A Ring from the Storm
by artisanrox
Summary: Cloud's time is running out as his body is poisoned by research, and Tifa is wondering whether she'll be able to marry her childhood friend.  VERY OLD fanfic moved from my website, where it would have stayed if not for Verizon's new TOS.  Forgive me, pls!
1. Chapter 1

Author's note:

This fic has been moved from my website around 7/25/11 because as of August 2011, Verizon will not be supporting FTP, and I have to find another webhost, and XHTML is a gigantic PITA so I'd rather not have to do all that coding over again if I decide to change my site around. It's not worth it for such an old story.

Soooo...yeah. Old story...

This was a fanfic I wrote waaaaaaaaaay back. This fic is AT LEAST 10 years old by now. Chapter 17 is missing, as when I wrote this, I was younger and dumber, and didn't back anything up. So I lost that chapter when I moved my site from GeoCities (now defunct...see how old it is?) to Verizon.

My Real Ghostbusters fanfic is soooo much better. Really. It is. I think I was still toying with the characters, and how to write, etc. etc. etc...and well, this reads pretty darn silly to me years later. Lots of typos and terrible characterization, especially in the light of _Advent Children_, which came waaaay after this.

Poor Tifa! I handled her terribly in this fic. This story's here for ol' times sake more than anything. ^_^

**Final Fantasy VII:**  
><strong>A Ring from the Storm<strong>

I.

_It's all over. It's finally all over_. Or so she thought.

The light from Holy and the Lifestream together was beautiful in the night sky. It contrasted with the ugly red light from Meteor. Meteor was about to be absorbed into Holy so the energy could be used for the good of the planet. The Lifestream was the combined power of all those who have died, pushing Meteor away so it didn't crash into the planet. That was fine according to Tifa.

_All of Sephiroth's plans came to nothing_, Tifa thought as she watched the light show. _Absolutely nothing. Well, not really. This is probably better for the Planet in the long run_. The energy from Meteor will actually improve the planet's natural beauty, and perhaps even cover up the areas that were massacred by Shinra. Especially the destroyed reactors and villages.

Tifa broke away from her thoughts to take a long look at Cloud. The rest of the team had already gone down below the deck of the _Highwind_ after Cid gave his orders for everyone to follow him and do some heavy celebrating. But Tifa stayed behind, because of what she wanted to say to Cloud, and she knew this was the right time to say it.

Cloud stayed behind, too. She knew he wasn't much for partying. He liked the rest of the team, but he wanted to get a look at the last couple moments as Sephiroth's whole plan fell to pieces and the planet was saved. Then he wanted to enjoy the silence of the night sky.

Cloud's face always looked warm to her, even when she first found him after he stepped off the train three years ago. Even when he acted so cold to everyone around him. Even with those mako eyes that he had. Those beautiful eyes... Funny she didn't notice them when they were kids. But inthe three years they fought together for the planet, she was noticing more and more about him besides his eyes. And all of it she liked.

"What...?" Cloud said as he found her gazing at him.

"It's time," she said almost under her breath.

"Huh? For what?"

"Cloud...I've been waiting until this fiasco with Sephiroth was all over so I could take some time with this. I wanted to say..."

The exact words she wanted to say just didn't happen for her. Instead she might try saying something else, just to help calm her nerves.

"Your eyes are _so_..."

An angry look shot from Cloud's glowing blue eyes as he turned away and started removing his armor, walking toward the stairs to the deck below.

"Yeah. I heard it all. Weird. Spooky. Cursed. Day-glow. When I returned to midgar after I was experimented on by Shinra, I heard all kinds of choice phrases for them." He didn't want Tifa to see or hear how disgusted he was with Midgar. He may have been the leader of the team through most of the time they were working to save the Planet, but that didn't change who he was when he saw certain people he knew from his past, or what they would say about him. "Go ahead, hit me with it. They're what? Bug zappers? Messed-up? Posessed?"

"Beautiful!" she cut in. That made him stop in his tracks.

She caught up to him, grabbed his arm and spun him around. She looked at him sternly. He was always so elusive when she wanted to tell him everything!

"Cloud, they're _beautiful_. Have you ever heard _beautiful_?"

He couldn't say anything for a moment, he was so shocked.

"No...I haven't..." he managed to whisper out.

"I might as well say it, Cloud. In the three years we've fought together, I've really come to...to...love you..."

Cloud just stared. He waited so long...

"At first, I wasn't sure. I was so wrapped up in defending myself from monsters that I had no idea what I was feeling hlaf the time. Then I was afraid to make the commitment to tell you. But as I got to watch you more and more, I knew you more and more, I knew you were special, and that you shold know."

"Ten years..." Cloud whispered as he looked in her brown eyes.

"Ten years for what?" She was shaking all over. How was he going to take this?

"Ten long years to hear that. Tifa, even when we were kids, I wanted you to be with me, but I was afraid you wouldn't like me at all, because I was such a weakling..."

"Cloud, we've already been through that. You are _definitely_ not as weak as you think you are."

"But you would always say, 'Be strong'...I was embarrassed when you said you knew the real reason I lied about being in SOLDIER, so I thought I would 'be strong' and drop it. I never thought I would hear anything about your feelings again."

"Well...Ineeded to say that...that I'm all yours." She smiled. "And _I_ want to watch over _you_ to make sure _you_ don't get into any more _trouble_!" she said as she poked him in the ribs with each emphasized word.

He took her prodding finger and wrapped his hand around the rest of hers. _Hmmmm, his hands are warm, too_, she thought.

They gazed at each other for a long moment, and Cloud was the first to speak again. "My turn to know something more about what you thaought back then."

"Yeah," she agreed. They walked back toward the railing surrounding the top deck of the _Highwind_, hand in hand. They reached the rialing and Tifa snuggled close to Cloud as she wrapped her arm inside his.


	2. Chapter 2

II.

Cid, Cloud, and Tifa sat down at the table. It was a great spread, with all sorts of dishes Cid, the food fanatic on the side of being the world's greatest pilot, picked up during his travels with the team. The _Highwind_ was a beauty of a ship, and she was more than capable of keeping this amount of food and more fresh. President Shinra really had an airship fit for a king built for him.

During the festivities, Cait Sith had a little fish and a glass of milk. His stuffed body needed food and rest, too, and what a better time than to sample than now! His Mog sat beside him, looking curiously at what everyone else was doing. When Mog saw Cloud and Tifa give "_that look_" to each other once in a while, he put both of his big paws to his mouth and blushed.

Tifa saw this and giggled. They were such an odd pair-Cait Sith was always shouting ridiculous orders that never seemed to work, while Mog never spoke a word. But when Mog needed to get a point across, everyone knew it was definitley a priority.

Mog began to urgently pat Cait Sith's paw as it laid on the table holding his fork.

"What's up, buddy?" Cait Sith asked his comrade.

Mog began pointing frantically toward the satchel that held all the materia found during the adventure with a big paw. A light bulb seemed to go on dimly above Cait Sith's stuffed head.

"OH, YEAH! Looka dis!" He brought out of the satchel what looked like a little white marble. "I found this at the crater right before we had to make that last fast getaway. It looked like some kinda materia, so I snatched it before I got on the _Highwind_. But the weird thing is that this materia feels cold to the touch, while all our other materia feels warm."

The cat placed it on the table. It began rolling almost immediately toward Cloud. In fact, it rolled right to his hand. He picked it up and examined it.

"Yeah, it does feel cold. Maybe I should see what it does in my weapon."

Cloud picked up his Ultima sword. This was definitely a weapon worth fearing, and everyone on the team knew it. Cloud matched the strength of Sephiroth with this sword. It also seemed strangely to be specially tuned in to his health. The team noticed that through the various battles they had with Shinra's monsters that the huge double-edged blade was a dark royal blue when Cloud was seriously injured, but turned white again as his health recovered. Sometimes this was the only way to get Cloud to rest after a hard day-the team could tell by the blade of the weapon how good or bad Cloud was feeling, and he had no way of covering it up. Now the blade shone a brilliant white.

Cloud took one materia out of the blade, and picked up the strange white materia. He didn't even have to bring it to the blade. It popped right in as if it knew it belonged there.

"Really weird." Cloud commented.

"Try calling its powers, to see what it does." Nanaki added.

Cloud concentrated, clearing his mind so he could use it for the whatever-it-is that the orb did. Nothing happened.

"Hm. Oh, well, maybe I did something wrong. I'll try later."

They partied until Cid brought the _Highwind_ back to his house. Cid suggested they all spend some time together at his place, not only to rest, but to divvy up the spoils from the adventure. Namely, the items and Gil.

Cloud suggested that they each take an even amount of Gil home with them. That sounded good.

Shera met the team at the door. She looked away from Cid. "Welcome back," she said.

"Uh, Hiya again, doll." Cid just couldn't act that tough around Shera anymore. She was truly rubbing of on him. She was so much like a little pet mouse. Very quiet and always somewhat nervous, but friendly.

They came to the small table in the main room of Cid's house. There Cid dumped the whole amount of GIl and items on the table. There was so much of it that Cid thought he would never see his table again. It took a while to divide up the spoils.

"What are we all going to use this for now?" Tifa asked the question to everyone in general just for fun.

"I would like to erect a monument of my father with my share," Nanaki said.

"I would probably use it to help fund the cleanup of Sector 7 in Midgar." Vincent said.

"That sounds good to me." Tifa said. "Maybe I could even build a new bar with mine, too. I could built it in Sector 9 this time, so I could call it the Cloud Nine Bar!" she added. Most got a good bellylaugh from that. Cloud just blushed at the reference.

"YO! Mine's all for Marlene!" Barrett said.

"Mine will probably fund a better fortune-telling system for myself and Mog!" Cait Sith chimed in. That was worth a good laugh, too.

Cloud spoke. "I think it would be nice to hae something dedicated to Aeris, too." Most of them nodded thoughtfully. No one could forget how the flower girl risked her life to save the planet.

"I always wanted ta start my own pilot training school." Cid said. "And how about you, little lady? What are you going to do?" he added, turning to Yuffie.

"Huh? Uh...Oh, yeah! Oh, probably some wonderful, worthy, charitable cause!" She said with a crocodile smile. Something about that made Cid worry. And he could've swore she was looking at that satchel of Materia way too much for everyone's good.


	3. Chapter 3

III.

The cordless communicator beeped in Cloud's pocket as Yuffie was speaking. He took it out and answered.

"Yeah? Oh, yeah. I'll put her on."

He turned to look at Yuffie. "Yuffie, it's your dad. He wants to know when you're coming home."

She ran toward Cloud and swiped the communicator right out of his hand. "What?" She said into the device. She ran into the back of the house, out the back door, and into the yard. The rest of the team shrugged and continued discussing what everyone was doing that night for some relaxation.

"No, I'm not coming home with the materia! They won't even let me near it! And they're saying that Blonde Boy is taking it back to Midgar with him and some of his friends!"

"So what do you suggest?" her father asked.

"_I don't know_!" Yuffie hissed. "Maybe I can hire someone to get it for me. If I try to take it, they'll just get it right back off me like last time. I tried hiding all over Wutai and I still couldn't keep a hold of the materia!"

"So is there anyone that could do it?"

Yuffie thought for a moment. "How about hiring one of those wizards that are back at Wutai? You _cannot_ say that _they_ do anything constructive all day!"

"Maybe I can send someone they haven't seen. Donjin has maniplulative powers. Maybe if he can charm one of them..."

"...They'll BEG to tell him where the materia is!," Yuffie exclaimed. "They'll put it right in his hand and he can walk out with it. Ha, ha, ha! Dad, that's the best excuse for a plan I've ever heard from you!"

"When's a good time to send him over?" Godo asked. He always managed to be taken aback by some things Yuffie said. But he blew it off. He was just like that as a kid.

"I heard rumors off the pilot that Blonde Boy's gonna propose to Tifa under the next full moon in Midgar. That'll be a good time to charm her, since he'll probably make sure she's alone before it happens. And Donjin's not that bad-looking, either. She'll be easy."

Godo was furious. He wanted the materia NOW. Like daughter, like father.

"But that's a week and a half away! By then they'll have it sold or something!"

"Not with what I've heard them planning to do. They're really bent for some reason on helping the Sector 7 repair project. One they get involved in that, they'll have no time to do anything."

"You think so?"

"Yeah! _Trust me,_ dad. I'll keep a watch on them and fill you in on the specifics of where and when to send him over."

"Ok. Good girl, Yuffie. Keep your eyes peeled and make Wutai proud again."

They both laughed wickedly. Yuffie clicked the communicator shut and walked back out to meet the rest of the team.


	4. Chapter 4

IV.

(revised 4/16/99).

Everyone parted ways that night. Two days later, Cloud, Barrett, Vincent, and Tifa were back in Midgar. Cid tagged along for fun, as Cloud suggested he might be able to help fix and operate machinery the city used to remove the pieces of the broken plate. Cid thought he might scout out a couple of candidates for his new piloting school he wanted to build, and perhaps "publicize the opportunity" to the young folks, as he put it.

They took a room in the Sector 9 inn for the time being until Tifa got her plans rolling to set up her new bar. They all very quickly found work in helping to repair Sector 7, as the project was desperate for manpower, especially since there was no fixed leader to supervise. What's more, the people of Midgar found new freedom as they started moving out of the slums and onto the top of the plates, since Shinra wasn't there anymore to dictate what everyone did.

The next day, after Cid, Vincent, Barrett, and Cloud finished their work they left to return the inn. All four of them were dusty and dirty, and very tired as they looked forward to finding out how far Tifa got in her plans for her new business.

However, Cloud had more important things on his mind than just changing his clothes and getting cleaned. He led the rest of the guys into a sandwich shop along the way. They looked forward to some food after the hard work, as it was almost half a day since they last had time to eat.

Not to many people were in the shop that day, as it was hot and sunny. Only the four guys, one older gentleman in a far corner booth, and an odd little old woman with dark glasses and frizzy white hair were there. The little woman sat in the booth next to the team, quietly sipping some iced tea.

They all sat down at a long table with a slate grey finish. The designs on the tabletop looked like odd little boomerangs, they noticed, as they each selected a black leather-trimmed chair and picked a bent, faded menu.

The waitress came right over. The girl was mostly thin, but her very wide hips were covered in a short, black sheath skirt into which a loose, white blouse with way too many ruffles was tucked. She took out a chewed pen from her fire-red hair and turned to each.

"What'll ya have, boys?" She squeaked in a high-pitched voice.

"Sector 9 Special." Vincent concluded after scoping the menu.

"Make that two." Cid added.

"Ah'll take the BIGGEST, meatiest hot-and-spicy beef sandwich you got. In fact, make that two of 'em." Barrett said.

"Uh...I'll just have _one_ of those," Cloud finally said. He didn't have the bottomless pit of a stomach Barrett and Cid had.

"Uh...Wh-...what'cha gonna drink?" The lady didn't squeak this time, as she noticed Cloud's glowing blue eyes. She leaned over to get another glance at them with the most puzzled look on her face, but by this time Cloud was looking at the menu again and didn't notice. She shook her head to wake herself out of her trance and focused her thoughts again on her customers.

"Spring water good for everyone?" Vincent asked as he looked at everyone.

"You and your damn fine taste, all the time!" Barrett exclaimed. He was used to harder stuff from his hometown of Corel. He huffily thought that he might as well try the "fine" stuff for once, especially since the way everyone was looking at him made him slightly uncomfortable. "Oh, what the hell. I'll have what he's havin'."

The waitress left and headed back to get their food and drink. When she reached the door to the kitchen, Cloud nervously looked at the rest of the guys and started to dig in his pocket.

"Guys, I need your honest opinion on this." He fished a very small, black velvet-trimmed box from his pocket. He opened it up, and let everyone see the red interior. Inside was the most beautiful bezel-set Meteorite ring any of them have seen so far. The Meteorite stone almost glowed, it was so white, while the yellow gold surrounding it added warm undertones to the stone's icy highlights. This was a very serious ring. And everyone knew Cloud was just the serious-type of guy to buy this sort of ring.

"What 'chu think we know anything 'bout some piece-a jewelry? Go ask your lady friends about it!" Barrett snapped.

"Cool it, Barrett. Cloud, let me take a look." Vincent said with his usual clarity.

Cloud passed the ring over to Vincent. He and Cid were sitting side-by-side, so it was easy for them to both get a closer look while Vincent held it.

"And this is for Tifa. Gorgeous. Best quality." Vincent thought out loud to himself as he scrutinized the stone. Even Cid was impressed. Cloud gave a slow nod with his head. Vincent spoke again after another good look. "You hinted before that you wanted to propose. When do you plan on doing so?"

"About a week from now. Under the full moon." Cloud's eyes looked nervously down at the table.

"Well, ^%$%$! Good luck, kid!" Cid gave him a fatherly smack on the shoulder from across the table.

Vincent returned the ring to Cloud. He took it and placed it carefully in his pocket again.

"Please don't let Tifa know about this. And I need to ask you a favor...On that night, could you all..kinda...be conveniently busy for me for a couple hours?"

"Whoo-hoo! Absolutely, kid! We would NEVER wanna bust on your private conversation with the lady!," Cid answered.

"Thanks..." Cloud quietly said as he suddenly found the waitress aside of him, starting to hand out the drinks and meals. They all ate evrything on their plates, relaxed a bit more, and then paid the bill. The waitress was thrilled at the size of the tip she received, but she seemed more interested in trying to get another look at the eyes of the boy with the spiky blonde hair.

They all left to go back to the inn. In the table next to where the four sat, the little old lady pulled down her dark glasses to see them leave. Yuffie peered over them with a secret laugh and thought that she should be speaking to her father soon.


	5. Chapter 5

V.

Cloud was terrified. Another whole three days had passed, and the night of the full moon was less than a week away! He and Tifa had been together off and on for at least ten years. They were together through all sorts of tough times. However, for Cloud, this was a tough time on his nerves. Every moment that the night that he was waiting for got closer, the more scared he got, but he was also looking forward to the relief of knowing whether Tifa wanted to marry him or not.

Cid, Barrett, and Vincent decided to put in some overtime at the plate cleanup site. Cloud left early to get back to the inn. Tifa needed a helping hand moving some of the furniture she ordered into the inn until the new business was ready, and she had asked Cloud to come back and help earlier on in the day.

After they moved the last item from the truck into the inn, Tifa wiped her brow as she paid the movers. She then suggested that she and Cloud take a slow walk around town to cool off. Cloud agreed as he fluffed his black tank top away from his body to hopefully get some air moving under there.

They walked out if the inn, and turned to continue down the street, arm-in-arm.

"So how much work was done so far on the plate project?" Tifa asked Cloud.

"Not nearly enough," Cloud answered. "There's only about a quarter of the plate removed from the ground. It's such a huge project. And after the plate is removed, the _real_ work of setting up all those homes again begins. And all those that lost their loved ones will be searching for them...for their bodies..."

"Those that are involved in this project...including you...are all so brave. There must be some really dedicated people helping."

"Yeah...I just hope the whole thing doesn't fall apart, due to a lack of leadership. It sems that most of the people working are just trying to get through to where they think their relatives are buried."

"Maybe it'll all be OK. The people are slowly recovering from a tremendous shock when the Shinra Corporation was defeated."

"Yeah. But on the positive side, there were a lot of people that left that sector when Shinra reported the attack on the tower that held the plate up. Seems that a lot more people will be happy to see their friends and relatives than we thought."

"That's good." Tifa said as she leaned her head on Cloud's strong shoulder for a moment.

"Isn't that cute?," the two suddenly heard someone yell obnoxiously behind them. They both turned to see who said it. Cloud's eyes narrowed as he realized it was no one else other than Brenner Lane, the same guy who was harrassing him ever since they were kids. He recognized the tall figure with the dirty blonde hair tied back in a long ponytail. He gritted his teeth as he turned away from looking at the bright red jacket that Brenner wore. Red was Brenner's favorite color, it seemed, and he always advertised his tastes by wearing a red jacket.

Brenner stayed a couple yards behind them. "Ignore him, Cloud," Tifa whispered in Cloud's ear as she felt the muscles in his arm tense. "It's not worth it."

"Yes, Tifa." Cloud said as he took a deep breath.

Brenner only pursued them with more drive. "What's wrong, Blonde Bomb? Don't wanna play like we used to?"

"_Tifa, let me just once..._" Cloud whispered through clenched teeth.

The old Cloud Tifa remembered from Nibelheim and Midgar was back in an instant. It didn't take much. "No, Cloud. Let's just find our way home and lose him." Just then, a rock whizzed by her head. This made her break into a run, which in turn led both Cloud and Brenner to also break into a run.

"This is ridiculous! He wants to fight like we did as kids!," Cloud said as he ran. He was starting to remember why he was so disgusted with Midgar.

More rocks flew by their heads as they ran. Brenner was doing a great job of getting Cloud riled.

Tifa suddenly yelped in pain as a rock found its way to her head. She fell on her knees and clenched the back of her head as the blood from the wound oozed into her hair and onto her hands.

That was the last straw for Cloud. He got up from trying to comfort Tifa and blazed his way back to Brenner. In an instant he was in Brenner's face, his blue eyes wild as he hissed some angry words at what was done, completely ignoring what little objection Tifa could manage to speak to him inbetween "ouch"es for doing so.

"_I oughta take you down right now for that!_" Cloud hissed through his teeth. By comparing their physiques, you knew that Cloud could do it, too, even though Brenner was taller by at least six inches.

Brenner acted like nothing happened. He was always so good at that. It was revolting. He looked calmly back at Cloud with his small brown eyes. "In such a public place, Cloud? My, my. Why don't we make like the old days and schedule a meeting? How about six days from now? By moonlight? You and me. Corner of Wing and Waterbridge in Sector 8. Just like old times."

"What a joke," Cloud said. No way would he take him up on _that_ offer. That was the same night he wanted to...

Just as he thought of Tifa, she came stumbling up to them and put herself between them. Taking her hands from her sore head and putting both on Cloud's shoulders, she said, and not entirely to Cloud alone, "Let's just go home, Cloud. He's just the same troublemaker he always was. It's not worth our precious time." She slid her hands down from his shoulders to his hands and lightly took hold. "Let's go."

Still glaring at Brenner, Cloud let himself be led away by Tifa. She was already heading down the street when Brenner whispered to Cloud, "I'll be there just in case you decide you want to even the score. Heh heh."

Cloud turned away as he walked, only to give Brenner one last dirty look from underneath his blonde eyebrows. Brenner was walking backward when Cloud saw him again, then turned and walked the other way. Tifa slid her hand up Cloud's back to try to slow his temper. It didn't work.

Cloud turned to Tifa. "Are you OK?" he asked her as he inspected the back of her head. His voice was calm, but his eyes said he wanted payback.

She put her hands back on her head and rubbed it a bit. She smiled at him. "I'll be fine. It just stunned me for a minute, that's all. I wasn't expecting his aim to be so good!" She laughed to try to blow it all off.

Cloud then blurted out as he looked away,"Tifa, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't be anywhere near Midgar OR Nibelheim right now. What's wrong with me? Is it just me?" Then he had a second thought that maybe he shouldn't have said that.

Tifa didn't like when Cloud busted on himself like that. "Cloud, take an honest look at yourself. You're a natural leader. You may not know it, but you...just...have this THING about you that attracts all sorts of people. It's some sort of charisma or something you're still not fully aware of. Most actually have it in the good for you, but once in a while, you just get a bad apple." She paused to look at his face as they walked. "Cloud, look at the type of person he is. Did you start that? No. He did. And I'm proud of you that you didn't take it further. So let's just go home and see whether the rest of the zoo crew got back yet. And you cheer up. 'K?"

"'K." Cloud kept the challenge that Brenner gave him to himself. Tifa didn't have to know about it, and besides, he wouldn't do that anyway. He had better plans.


	6. Chapter 6

VI.

Brenner Lane turned away from Mako Boy and his chick. He knew, especially now that Cloud was in the Shinra military and had much more fighting experience than himself, that he couldn't possibly win in a one-on-one fight with Cloud anymore. The score was pretty even when he last saw Cloud in Nibelheim before Cloud left for Midgar, and it would be fun to go at it again, but that wasn't what he was concerned about anyway.

He had met a scientist in his hometown of Nibelheim that was hunting for some cheap labor to help maintain the huge reator there. Lane, not wanting to finish his education and too lazy to actually go look for a job, was glad that he was offered a position by the Shinra research team and didn't have to bother to look for one. He soon developed a good business relationship with Dr. Chad Ridgeson, a leading scientist.

Now that there was practically no more Shinra, Dr. Ridgeson had to take some of his plans underground. He had a lab deep in the forests southeast of Cosmo Canyon that was impossible to find if you didn't know exactly where to go. Some of those that worked with him often questioned his reasoning for such a hidden place. Ridgeson's explaination was that if they happened to find something of value to the people, such as a cure for a disease or a better way to create power for light and heat, that he needed an isolated place so those that destroyed Shinra would have a hard time finding them and destroying any valuable research.

It was a long two-day trip to the lab, through the plains, over the ocean, and through the forest. But he had to get back to Ridgeson and let him know in person that he found the Mako boy and could now barter about his reward for producing him to the scientist.

He passed through the gates to the lab, and entered the doors. The whole place smelled like antiseptic. The walls were a hospital white, and the air always seemed to feel a little chilly.

He met Dr. Ridgeson in the hall. Ridgeson was much shorter than Lane, with his salt-and-pepper hair in a neat crewcut and nondescript grey eyes. He was middle-age, and very thin. Well-spoken and analytical, he almost lived in the lab, sometimes working behind locked doors.

"See him?" the scientist asked.

"Yeah. He fell for it. We'll be waiting for him. Ten thousand Gil?"

"Five."

"OK, eight."

"..." Ridgeson thought for a moment. "...Deal."

Ridgeson and Lane were really good on capitalizing on each other's wishes. The scientist needed a strong guinea pig to take the trials of what his upcoming experiment demanded, and Lane just wanted the living crap beaten out of Cloud. And if he could earn some extra cash in the meantime, all the better. When Lane told the doctor that he knew a guy with funny glowing eyes, Ridgeson recognized that the boy was a part of the scientist Hojo's experiments. Since he was obviously the only Sephiroth clone to survive until now, the boy had to be either very strong or very lucky. Ridgeson concluded that it was a bit of both, and he would be perfect for his next project.

Ridgeson idolized Hojo, despite his warped research. When Ridgeson happened upon Hojo's deformed, lifeless body, he immediately began scrounging around in his lab for his research. He found all the papers concerning infusing Mako energy into humans, and decided to expand upon it. Thus the hidden lab. He covered his ideas under the veneer of humanitarian research, because he thought Hojo made the stupid mistake of talking too much.

Ridgeson and Lane ended their brief conversation and parted ways. Ridgeson headed down the hall to see how others were getting along in their busywork, while Lane left for Midgar to wait the final two days before the night of the full moon when he arrived.


	7. Chapter 7

VII.

Cloud looked up at the full moon. _What a gorgeous night_, he thought. He made sure he was dressed-to-kill that night. He tried to stay away from Tifa by changing at the Sector 9 Sandwich shop so she wouldn't see his expensive threads and get curious. That would spoil everything!

Cloud make sure his white Oxford shirt and close-fitting forest green slacks were in perfect order. He tried to make his golden blonde hair somewhat better organized than usual, but it seemed like it would revert right back to the spiky mess that it usually was in at any moment. His black patent leather boots were quite a change from the scroungy brown things he usually wore. He checked to make sure they were clean and tied. Oh, yeah, and that he actually _did_ have the ring on him.

He left the shop, carrying his bag of dumpy clothes with him, the ring in his pocket. He turned out of the shop and started on his way towards the inn. He gave himself a 70/30 chance in favor of an affirmative, he thought to himself. No, maybe a 50/50, because Tifa wasn't the type to jump right into things. Well, maybe a...

Wrapped up in his thoughts, Cloud continued along his way. He got to the door of the inn, and luckily looked up just in time before his nose came into contact with the door.

Before he opened the door to go inside, he heard a faint noise coming out of the window next to him. The windows were open to let some air inside on the hot night, so he heard pretty cleary what he recognized as Tifa's voice, as he knew that her room was on the ground floor by the entrance.

_Wait a minute, _he thought to himself, _she should be alone_. And the way she was talking sounded nothing like her. She sounded really irritated.

"Oh, jeez. No...but I know _I'm_ not involved with anyone right now, you looker, you...Oh, it's there...go help yourself... So how about it? We'll be great together... No, I will NOT keep my voice down!..."

Cloud was stunned. His eyes wide open, he turned around and leaned his back against the wall, breathing hard. He thoughts flew by in his head... Maybe Tifa wasn't being completely honest with him all that time... She said before to him that she wasn't really sure what she felt... And she DID spend a lot of time alone... Maybe she purposely didn't want to work on the plate, since he would be there...

The more he thought, the more he hated himself, more than anyone else. He started to run toward his only solace in times like this, his motorcycle, which was parked far up the street due to lack of space. He never noticed the little black box fall from his pocket, right into a corner by the door of the inn.

He just ran. He hopped on his bike and put in the key. He could barely hold onto it to turn it, he was so messed up. He managed to turn it to "ignition". Nothing happened.

He was frazzled by now. _I just checked this out with Cid yesterday!_ he thought. He placed his hands on either of the handlebars...and they came right off, into his hands.

Cloud heard another sound...and then CRASH! He was on the ground, the pieces of his bike around him. He gave an exasperated scream ito the night, the first time he's ever done such a thing, picked himself up, and ran...right to Sector 8, where the person he knew was responsible for his bike waitied for him. Forget not fighting...Tifa didn't care after all, so he might as well spend his time doing the only thing he's known. He didn't have to impress anyone anymore.


	8. Chapter 8

VIII.

Cloud stopped running only when he got to the Wing and Waterbridge intersection. This was a real bad section, even of the slums. He had a funny feeling about it, but his fury prevented him from caring. He felt the trickles of sweat run down his face and onto his shirt as he darted his head around, looking for Lane.

"Ah! And I thought DayGlow wasn't gonna show up!" He heard Lane say in his grating, haughty voice. He stepped out of the shadows, only to have the wind knocked out of him when Cloud lunged for him.

They both fell on the ground. "What's this with Tifa? And my bike?" Cloud shouted in his face as he yanked on Lane's red jacket.

"Tifa? I don't know about your chick, but it would've been great to see you go SPLAT when you hopped on your bike!" Lane laughed.

Cloud held his fist back to let loose a punch. He let it go, but Lane blocked it and kicked Cloud off his chest. Cloud and Lane both quickly got up and got into their ready stances. Cloud , being much faster than Lane, got the first chance to land another blow, namely one to Lane's gut. As Lane was bent over in pain, Cloud got down on one hand and knocked one of Lane's feet out from under him, then used the leverage to flip him over his head.

_That accomplished nothing,_ he thought. But then he remembered he didn't care anymore as he watched Lane recover.

"I thought you might get the upper hand, so I made sure I was prepared!" Lane put his fingers to his lips and let a loud whistle loose. Suddenly there appeared at least twelve other guys, surrounding Cloud, and all closing in on him. Lane glared at him. "Did _you_?"

Cloud was in situations like this before. Instead of running away, he ran right toward a small guy and put his elbow up and out. The guy made a loud grunt as Cloud's elbow hit it's mark, right between the guy's eyes. The henchman fell to the ground and Cloud kept running.

Lane made some sort of motion with his hand, and another guy held out a device called a Chocochaser, a device originally used for capturing Chocobos that tried to run away from farms without injuring them. The guy pressed a button and a padded metal claw shot out, attached to a long rope. Usually it would catch the Chocobo by the neck and could then be used as a collar, but this time it caught Cloud around the ankle. He gave a cry as the rope tightened and he fell to the ground.

Cloud tried desperately to get the thing off his ankle, but it wouldn't budge. He couldn't break the rope with his bare hands, either, as it was too strong. He could only dig his nails into the ground as four more guys took the rope and started to pull him back.


	9. Chapter 9

IX.

Cloud was flipped from back to front and back again as the henchmen pulled him back into the rest of the gang. When he was close enough, they encircled him again. This time he _couldn't_ get away. He felt the glares of every man in the gang on him. He knew it was coming for him, and this time fighting wouldn't help much.

Brenner nodded his head ominously. Cloud steeled himself to take it as all the men fell on him at once.

Fists and feet flew everywhere, and Cloud felt each hit. They grabbed for his hair and shirt to hold him. He struggled, mostly by instinct, as he was seeing stars even as the first few punches and kicks landed. When the gang was finished, Cloud was left in the middle a bloody mess. He knew he had ribs broken on both sides. Lane won this time, and used any means possible, even to the point of buying some help. Cloud just laid there gasping as his head sunk into his folded arms on the ground.

Lane shooed the rest of the guys away from their victim. Then he, with his back turned to Cloud, and in the most pompous voice he could manage, got up on his soapbox to wallow in his accomplishment.

"You guys are a lucky bunch. Take a look at Cloud Strife. You have just given the leader of AVALANCHE the what-for for what he and his followers have done to Midgar..."

But Brenner never noticed Cloud get up on one knee, because of his mouth. _That's a lie! A complete lie!_ Cloud thought as he struggled for air. He couldn't say it out loud, as it hurt even to breathe. The rest of the guys were so shocked he even got off the ground, they waited in silence more to see what would happen, rather than listen to Brenner.

"I assure you that your restitution will be generous. 'Cuz this is the start of letting people that destroy our precious town know that it won't be tolerated!"

But Brenner never noticed Cloud standing on both feet. Cloud was running on pure adrenalin, but he knew it wouldn't last forever. All he saw was the blurry image of the red jacket. He knew he needed to just get one last good swing in there.

"We gotta let these guys know that the research of many good scientists was destroyed when Shinra fell, and a lot of brilliant researchers were lost!," he said. He turned to look at Cloud. "Isn't that right Cl-"

Cloud let one last grand swing loose. And it landed-right on Brenner's nose. He was thrown back from the blow, and fell to the ground, gripping his broken nose and groaning.

Cloud's body couldn't hold itself up anymore. He sank to the ground unconscious, his shirt torn to shreds and covered in blood.

As Brenner sat on the ground trying to nurse his sore nose, one small guy came over to him. _Oh, good. Someone to help_, he thought.

The guy looked at him hard for a second, then gave a big smile. "Hey, Lane, can I be the first to sign your nose cast when you get it?" he laughed.

"SHADDAP!" Brenner yelled without his usual detachment. "AND GET HIM TO THE LAB OR YOU'RE NOT SEEIN' ANY PROFIT!"

Cloud opened his eyes. All he saw was black.

At first, he thought he was blinded. But then he felt the pull of material around his head and realized that there was a bilndfold there. Brenner and his boys obviously wanted to keep the whereabouts of their destination top secret.

Not that Cloud would have particularily cared where they were taking him at his point, though. With his broken ribs and just about everything else bruised, he really just wanted to sleep.

For some reason, Tifa kept popping into his mind. He had no reason why...she sounded so hateful towards him at the inn...he never heard her talk in that tone of voice before...

Unless she was under a confuse spell...

That's it! Someone must have known that she would be alone at that time, and used a confuse spell on her...she always got angry with everyone, and furious at Cloud for no apparent reason sometimes, and every time she has acted so she was under the influence of a confuse spell. How they would know she was alone, he couldn't understand, but it seemed so. Maybe she would still marry him...

Cloud and the rest of the team considered confuse spells just as dangerous, if not more, than the sword or gun. They turned friendship and love into utter hate... and friends on the same side would turn on each other. And when one friend had a decent amount of physical strength or a deadly weapon in hand, a simple confuse spell could do incredible things.

So now Cloud was furious at himself. Why didn't he just go in and check out what was wrong? He acted before he thought again. Why didn't he go in?

Brenner and his paid comrades watched in amusement as Cloud lay on the cold concrete floor of the storage room, struggling for breath, with his blindfold on and his feet and hands bound. He seemed to be coming out of his day-and-a-half sleep.

Having let the rest of the crew watch their prey for awhile, Brenner finally made a motion for almost everyone to leave.

Cloud started to mumble something that sounded like "should've...". Brenner kneeled down and listened, snickering. He cupped a hand to his ear.

Cloud mumbled something more as his head rolled back and forth. "I...should've...went in...Tifa...I...should've.."

Brenner had enough. Time for some fun. He took his hand away from his ear and jerked up the blindfold. The blindfold was tight across Cloud's head and pushed the golden blond hair that hung in front of his eyes up further underneath it.

Cloud kept mumbling even as Brenner pulled up his blindfold.

"Time to play, Strife!"

SMACK! Cloud felt a hit bounce off his head. That took him halfway out of his thoughts.

Brenner had a big guy haul Cloud's shouders off the ground so Cloud was seated in front of Brenner's self-righteous face. Cloud grunted as he was picked up. The big guy stayed to Cloud's back, kneeling and holding his bound wrists. _As if I feel like moving anywhere _, he thought.

Cloud came further out of his stupor and slowly opened his glowing eyes. He was staring Brenner in the face. His shredded shirt was gone, and so were his boots and socks. Brenner wanted to make sure Cloud was clean, without any hidden weapons, before he did this. Cloud knew Brenner had a methodical streak in him, but not like this.

"So...Tifa's your chick..." he said as he stroked his chin. "Shame that someone like you is with Nibelheim's sweetheart."

Cloud burned in silence.

"After what you did to her! Taking that girl to Mt. Nibel so she could fall off a cliff!"

Cloud struggled through the pain in his ribs to talk. "That...was...over..ten years ago. Why...should you care?"

"Because what YOU did to my little brother was over ten years ago, too! Doesn't make it right!"

"I...tried to help...Tifa. Your...little brother...was stupid..." CLoud's blue eyes were on fire underneath his eyebrows.

Cloud had to throw his head back and let out a cry as he felt a jab right in his broken ribs from the big guy that held his wrists.

"My little brother walks with two crutches permanently because of YOU!"

It was hard to even force himself to recover from that jab. "Your little brother...thought he could jump me in the street from on top of the...weapon repair building. When he landed...on his knees...he blamed me."

"Your word against his."

Cloud returned his gaze to Brenner. "Since when were you...such a family man?"

Another jab to his ribs made him cry out again.

"Smart$%*!" Brenner was losing his cool.

"Someone...will hear me..." Cloud hissed through his teeth.

"Oh, don't worry about that. It's 2 AM. The building is deserted...all the staff is in the office and rest area of the next building...and _no one will hear you_." He leaned closer to Cloud's face. His beady eyes tried to pierce through Cloud's self-respect, but somehow it was a losing battle. "And by the time the morning comes around, you won't even be able to scream anymore."

Cloud's lips came together for a moment. He couldn't feel the sweat run down his shoulders for the pain in his ribs.

He spat a good one in Brenner's face.

"AAAAAGH!" Brenner yelled as he wiped it away.

"That's it! I'm sure glad I let all of Nibelheim know that YOU were responsible for my brother AND Tifa!"

_So HE was the one! HE put the idea that Tifa's coma was my fault in the elder's heads!_ Cloud thought.

Cloud eventually straightened things out with Tifa as to exactly what happened that day at the mountain. Or rather, the Lifestream straightened it out for them. Cloud actually followed Tifa that day to hopefully protect her as she sought her dead mother in the dangerous mountain cliffs, but Tifa ended up in a horrible fall and was in a coma for a while because of it. Cloud thought for years that Tifa blamed him. But Tifa never blamed Cloud. And when she found out what really happened, she had all the more reason to want to marry him.

But now he knew who DID blame him for the incident. As a matter of fact, Cloud did remember now that he thought he saw Brenner watching him follow after Tifa as they left for the mountain. But both he and Tifa knew now that it wasn't his fault. That was enough.

The incident with Chris Lane wasn't his fault, either. But the fact that it happened only a month before Tifa's accident made it all the much more convenient to blame both on Cloud.

And now Brenner had a gleam in his beady eyes that said he didn't care who was responsible. Just like his little brother, Lane fought for fun.

Brenner had the big guy jab Cloud in the ribs harder, and Cloud let loose another good scream. The fist then stayed there, like the a twisting of a knife in the wound once the blade is in. Cloud almost passed out.

"Let's see what's left of Tifa's beau when I'm done with 'im!"

The fist still stayed there. Cloud eventually did pass out.


	10. Chapter 10

X.

William Triniman walked his stocky self down the hall of the lab, with papers containing his own research in hand. He had a pencil stuck behind his ear, the pencil being a bright yellow that contrasted with his black receding hairline. He adjusted his glasses.

It had been a few days since he saw the kid with the red coat and the nose cast leave. He knew he had something to do with Ridgeson, and thought about it often, as it was strange Ridgeson was getting outside help.

Now Triniman was about to enter the storage closet where certain chemicals were held under a strong laser-based shield to obtain some for his research. He punched in the number password. The door didn't open.

"Damn," he growled. "Someone's changed the password." He hit the control panel with his fist, which then made the door decide to open. "Seems everything around here works like that," he mused to himself.

When he looked inside, he was horrified at what he saw. All the chemicals were gone inside the room. In their place, inside the laser shield, was a strong-looking young man of about 25 years of age or so. His skin was a sickly green, and he was covered in dirt and bruises, and obviously had some broken ribs, by what the scientist could see. He was blindfolded, and attached to the wall by thick mythril cuffs by the neck and arms, and to the floor by the ankles. Triniman tried to get some information, at least his name, from the young man, but he was too far gone to give an answer.

"God, he's just a kid...And even so, this is barbarism!" he said to himself. He tried to find the remote control for the shield, but couldn't find it. He resigned to the fact hat hte boy was stuck until he got help. He got up to leave, and hopefully find some explanation for this.

As he was on his way to see the results of his ex[periment, Ridgeson was disturbed when he found the door to the storage closet slightly ajar. Outside the door, he stood, concerned that someone finally found his research. _I even changed the password!, _ he thought to himself. He flung the door open to find Triniman on his way up from kneeling next to the boy.

"Ridgeson, do you know anything about this?" Triniman asked.

"He's-being used for reasearch." Ridgeson stammered out.

"Well, it MUST be yours, since you're the only other research scientist that's working in this facility! Why are you doing this to this boy?" He held out a hand toward Cloud, whose head was turning unconsiously back and forth in the cuff around his neck.

Ridgeson was stuck. Well, maybe if he confided in his associate, he might get him to help.

"I-I am in the process of testing the effects on the human body of injected Lifestream," he said.

"But like this? Why not at least get a volunteer? Why use this boy that you had people drag in here for you?"

"_Do you know who this boy IS_?" Ridgeson whispered. "This is the only living Sephiroth clone that Hojo helped produced through his research! He can take it!"

"Ridgeson, it wsn't necessary to do this to him...he's got to get some medical attention!"

Ridgeson glared at him with his grey eyes. "And if he's completely healed by the Lifestream and Mako energy in him, what's the difference?"

Triniman glared back. "And what if he dies?"

_Then I'll use the knowledge to control the planet!_ he thought to himself. Triniman only saw the scientist glare at him without an answer. Ridgeson spun around on his heel and left. Triniman went to the boy again. "I'll get you out, young man. But I can't do it alone. I'll get some help for you."


	11. Chapter 11

XI.

The first night Cloud was missing, Tifa felt uncomfortable. The second night, she was worried. And the third, she couldn't even sleep.

It was strange that Cloud wasn't back for so long. They all knew he hopped on his bike and drove all day and all night when he got into a bad mood to blow off steam, but this was longer than usual.

Also, the way she looked when she answered the door when the guys came back was weird.

They had all arrived at once and stood at the door, each with a big smile on their face, waiting for Tifa to squeal with glee that Cloud had proposed. But she didn't when she answered the door. She had a funny glow in her eyes that Vincent said was the result of a "confuse" spell. Luckily, the guys found a container in their stash holding the last of some "remedy" liquid, and splashed some in her face. She snapped out of it. And when they found that some of their gil and all their phoenix down was missing from a cupboard, they assumed it was because the thief needed cash and items. Tifa unfortunately couldn't remember anything.

Now, Tifa was on her last nerve because Cloud was missing for so long. She decided to take a walk around while there was still bright daylight and ask people if they've seen him lately. On her way back inside after not getting anywhere, at least THAT way, she noticed a small black velvet box in the corner between the door and a wall of the building. She picked it up and opened it, and inside was a gorgeous and expensive meteorite ring set in gold. She brought it inside, and figured that whoever lost it would definitely run an ad on TV or the papers to get it back.

"Did YOU see THIS?" she asked the threesome as she held the box open for them to see. "This is the most gorgeous ring I've ever seen! I wonder who the lucky girl is that this is meant for, because I'd like to meet her!"

Cid, Vincent, and yes, even Barret, were shocked. They gave each other a look that worried Tifa even more for some reason.

"Should we-uh, tell her?" Vincent asked the other two.

"I think it might be a good idea..." Cid said. "Hon, that-was the ring that Cloud wanted to-uh-propose to you with-"

"OH MY GOD!" Tifa said as she flew of the handle. She did that when she was worried about Cloud, and she was _always_ worried about Cloud. "He's in trouble again! I just know it! Oh my God! Where do we even start looking? Nobody I talked to has seen him for three days!"

Just then the communicator rang, and Cid answered. It was the doctor that treated Cloud during his three week coma, calling all the way from Mideel in the south.

"Are you missing someone recently?"

"#^$*, yeah! How da you know?" Cid said. Everyone was silent as they listened to Cid's one-sided conversation.

"You might not know, but the world of any profession is a very small one,including the medical and research fields. I received a call from my good friend, William Triniman, and he spoke to me for the first time about a hidden research lab southeast of Cosmo Canyon conducting human experiments."

"JEEZ! In that $^&%# isolated forest there?"

"Yes. He described to me the boy that they were holding hostage, and the description matched that of Cloud's. Bill asked me to get outside help out of fear of being caught and never getting help for the boy."

"Where exactly is this place? Did he tell ya?"

"Bill told me everything. Here's how you ge to it..."

When they were finished getting directions, they all headed immediately for the _Highwind_. Tifa stopped only to slip the ring on the third finger of her left hand and grab her fighting gloves. She then ran out the door to join the guys, who were already on their way.


	12. Chapter 12

XII.

It was three days before the team found the lab, and everyone knew it was three days too long. Cloud had been missing now for almost a week, and from what the doctor in Mideel said, his condition wasn't good.

They waited until night, and until the lab was practically abandoned to try their rescue mission. Luckily, there were no guards stationed, and the side of the building they had to use to get in was very dark.

Cid found the door on the side of the building that the doctor said to use. He opened the door and led the other three inside.

He then found the door to where Cloud was held. He tried to keep the specifics of exactly where in the building Cloud was away from Tifa, as his first priority in this operation was not to have her freak out over Cloud when she saw his condition.

Cid gave the control panel a good smack, just like the doctor told him to, and the door opened. He peeked in the door. Sure enough, there Cloud was. He looked absolutely awful. It was enough to make Cid wince.

He turned back and whispered to to the rest of the team.

"OK, we need to split up here. Me and Barret's gonna check out this room for a clue. Tifa, you and Vincent look in Ridgeson's office down the hall for something useful. I'll get back to you if we find anything."

"OK." Said Tifa. Actually, Cid knew he sent Tifa on a wild goosechase, but it was necessary.

Cid and Barret entered the room. Cid approached the shield surrounding Cloud. Keeling down in front of the energy shield, he got a closer inspection at his condition. He tried to get Cloud to notice that he was there, but Cloud was too injured. Cloud's head lifted once in a while so he could get a labored, shallow breath of air through his clenched teeth. Cid noted that a couple bones on both sides of his ribcage seemed broken. That in itself made it hard to breathe, and the way he was forced to sit didn't help. He had no idea how the energy wall could be deactivated.

Tifa and Vincent picked the lock to the door easily. Vincent entered without a sound, but Tifa happened to run into a cart by the door. A small device that looked like a remote control fell from the cart with a crash.

"I'm such a klutz!" Tifa said to herself.

"Ssssssh...we need to concentrate on the matter at hand..." Vincent said to her.

Back in the storage closet, Cid was shocked when the shield surrounding Cloud zapped itself off.

"#%*+ good timing!" he cursed to himself under his breath. He found the key in the room to the mythril cuffs, also provided to the doctor through his friend and associate Triniman, and unlocked the attachments to the wall and floor.

Cid gently moved Cloud's back away from the wall, and he sank immediately the rest of the way to the floor in Cid's arms. Cloud was completely out of it. They would have to carry him out. Or rather, Barret would while Cid told Tifa and Vincent that they found what they came for.

"What 'chu MEAN I gotta carry him out? You ain't gonna give a helping hand?" Barret argued.

"Dammit, Barret! I gotta get back to the Dynamic Duo and tell them to get out!"

"Fine, Head Honcho. But my back better not be outta whack 'cuz of it! My Marlene's done enough to it!"

"Jeeziz. Just meet us out there! We'll have to carry him to the plain south of the forest. I told my pilot-in-training to meet us there with the _Highwind_."

Barret picked up Cloud's limp body and hauled himself over to the exit. Cid ran to the scientist's room to get to Tifa and Vincent.

After Tifa put the device back on the cart, Vincent whispered that he did find something that could be of value. Tifa stood next to him as they both looked at a file. Vincent read the contents.

"'...Day twelve. Initiator: Hojo. Mako infused. Subject not experiencing change. Subject described failure. Experiment disengaged.'"

"That must have been Cloud's file when Hojo was using him." Tifa commented.

"Yes", Vincent agreed. "But look at this. This was recently written. 'Restart experiment: Lifestream infusion... Initiator: Ridgeson. Waiting for results.' It seems now they want to inject pure Lifestream into humans and see what it does. Disgusting." Vincent remembered his own file that the mad scientist Hojo had for him.

Someone opened the door, and the hair on Tifa's and Vincent's necks raised. Tifa got her fists up. Vincent put a hand on his Winchester. They were caught!

No they weren't. It turned out to be Cid in the door. Phew!

"We got him. Barret has him outside. Let's bust outta here!"

When they returned to the outside, Tifa wasn't too happy about Cloud's state. She wanted to stop for a minute and look at his condition.

"Please, Cid? Please just let me use a flashlight and look for a moment!"

"We can't, Tifa. We gotta get safely to the _Highwind_ first!"

Tifa didn't like it, but saw the sense in what Cid said. They carried Cloud throught the night to meet the _Highwind_ in the early morning hours.


	13. Chapter 13

XIII.

Barret and Cid laid Cloud on a bed in one of the bedrooms on the _Highwind_. Cloud's golden blonde hair was a dirty, dull brownish now. When they took the blindfold off, his eyes were puffy and red on the outside. He still struggled for breath. They noticed small, long trails of blood snaking from his forehead, and, oddly enough, his right shoulder.

Cid studied his shoulder. The blood seemed to be coming out of little pricks.

"What the #^*% are they?"

Vincent knelt down and studied the little trails from the pricks in Cloud's shoulder with him.

"Injection sites." Vincent resolved.

"These people are %#%$* nuts!"

They had no time to get the mythril cuffs off Cloud's neck, arms, and feet until now, so Cid started to poke around for something that could break through the cuffs. He found a large pair of mythril pliers that would do the job in a jiff.

Cloud was half-conscious while Cid was getting the cuffs off. He even actually fought a little, which made Cid curse under his breath even more.

It was good that Cid prevented Tifa from seeing Cloud too soon. She most definitely _did_ freak out when she saw his state. When the cuffs were finally off, she sat beside where he lay gasping on the bed. She asked Cid if it was all right to touch him and maybe even wake him up.

"I wouldn't, hun. He was fighting me all the way getting those #%^* cuffs off. Watch out!"

Not what she wanted to hear. She started to reach out her hand to wipe the dirt and sweat from Cloud's brow anyway...

Cloud was on his back in a strange, dark, greenish landscape. He knew he was very sick and very hurt, and didn't know why. The wind howled and the dust flew into his eyes. He found that he couldn't move. He groaned and struggled a little to try to break free, but it didn't work.

_What kind of evil magic is this?_ he thought to himself. _This is even worse than the crater!_

Suddenly, an image formed on the horizon. It came closer. When it came close enough to be identified, Cloud saw that it was Hojo, twisted and ugly from the Jenova cells he chose to inject into himself. Hojo uncurled his claws and showed his fangs. He came closer to Cloud. Cloud still couldn't move, no matter how he struggled.

Hojo was standing next to Cloud, baring his teeth and reaching down at him with his claws. He seemed to want Cloud's neck...He came closer...His claws were almost around his neck when...

...Cloud gave a scream and grabbed hold of Tifa's arm. He squeezed it so tightly Tifa thought he would break it.

"OOOWWW! Cloud, let go! Ow, that hurts!" Tifa said to Cloud. She kept pulling away and finally broke her arm free from Cloud's grasp. Cloud fell back, gripping his broken ribs and groaning.

Barret made a motion towards the two. Tifa asked him to stop.

"No, Barret. He just doesn't know where he is. Let me try something else."

She then turned her head back to Cloud, rubbing her arm. She leaned over him a little. "Cloud?...Cloud?...Are you there?"

Cloud got quiet and still for a second. He half opened his eyes. "Wha...?"

"Cloud, do you know who I am?"

"N...n...T...Tifa?", he whispered. His eyes opened a little more. He could barely see a fuzzy outline that looked sort of like Tifa.

"Cloud, do you know where you are?"

Cloud just shook his head no.

"You're safe on the _Highwind_. You're with me. Barret, Vincent, and Cid are here, too."

A look of sheer terror flew across Cloud's face.

"Tifa...please...don't let them take me a third time...please.."

"Oh, Cloud..." She took his right hand in her left. She held it up to her face.

"Don't let them... take me... again..." he begged. Then he noticed something sparkle on her finger...It looked like...

Tifa saw his gaze fixed on her left hand.

"Tifa...uuuunnnh...You're wearing...you're...wearing..."

Tifa realized he meant the meteorite engagement ring.

"You didn't even have to ask me...I will, Cloud..."

"You're..wearing..." His glowing blue eyes closed again. His head sunk back into his pillow. He was out again.


	14. Chapter 14

XIV.

Back at Midgar, it was a dewy morning. There was a slight breeze wafting in from the open window. The light white curtains seemed to float in the wind. The sun shone in the little room of the inn, and Tifa was enjoying the beautiful morning, breathing in deeply the fresh moist air. She leaned over the window a little and adjusted a sleeve on her light white sheath dress. She folded her hands and waited.

She turned back for a second to check on Cloud. They brought him back here after taking him to the doctor in Mideel. Hopefully the good doctor would be able to patch Cloud up a little. It sort of worked, but they had to use all their remaining healing liquid on his broken ribs, and they still weren't up to par yet. There was a thick layer of bandaging around his chest to hopefully protect it. His skin was still a sickly green, and the scars from whatever happened to him were still visible. Nothing seemed to work in getting the injected Lifestream out of his body. He would have to stay like that until they found a way to do it.

Cloud was finally sleeping quietly, his breathing even now. Tifa had cleaned him off and put him in a pair of thin white slacks with a loose drawstring waist. He would be more comfortable in that for now.

She saw that the sun was shining right in his eyes. That would probably wake him up. Sure enough, as soon as she turned back to look at the view, she heard a faint sigh from Cloud. She turned to look at Cloud and saw him move. Then she went over to the side of the bed and stroked his blonde hair until he awakened.

Cloud opened his glowing blue eyes.

"Hi." Tifa smiled at him. Her long, dark brown hair fell around her shoudlers and her deep brown eyes.

Cloud didn't say anything, but he seemed to welcome every stroke Tifa gave him. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and sighed as he absorbed every touch.

They were in silence for a moment as Cloud was slowly waking up.

"Holy..."

Tifa gave Cloud a puzzled look.

"Huh?"

"Holy...I've got to touch Holy to...get better.." He opened his eyes again.

"Oh..."

"Uggggh...Tifa..let me get up..." He slowly lifted himself up with a couple grunts and groans, put his long legs over the edge of the bed, and sat up.

"You're very hot. Would you like some water?" Tifa asked.

Cloud put his face in his hands and rested his elbows on his knees. He rubbed his face to try and get rid of the cobwebs.

"No...thank you. Thank you...for staying with me...again..."

"No problem. I'm glad you're back." She smiled and rubbed his back. "It seems that they injected Lifestream into you to see what it does, and it's acting like pure poison. We tried everything to get rid of it, but nothing worked."

"Yeah...I saw myself getting better while touching Holy in a dream. I'm not an Ancient, so I can't call Holy here. I'll have to go to the crater again to get to Holy."

"WE will have to go. With you. All of us." She took her hand from his back and held his hand. She looked at the scars around his wrists. "What they did to you..."

"..I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy...including Sephiroth..." Cloud finished the sentence for her.

"I saw your face when we were taking you to Mideel on the _Highwind_. You were terrified."

"..." Yes, he was.

She bit her bottom lip. "Cloud, where did you go for the first few days? How did you end up there?"

"Brenner challenged me to a one-on-one the same night I wanted to propse, but it was a trap. I was at the door ready to go in a nd propose to you, but I heard you hitting on someone else. I was so furious I ran right into the trap."

"Cloud, I'm so sorry..." She turned her eyes to the floor in front of her. "...I was under a confuse spell..."

"I thought so...It's not your fault. I had a couple lucid moments while I was imprisoned and that idea gave me hope. Somehow I knew you wouldn't normally say stuff like that. All I could think of that whole time was you. It really kept me going."

They sat in silence again for a few moments. Tifa worked Cloud's hand with her fingers and thumb as he lightly held it. It was wonderful for the both of them.

Cloud happened to really look down for the first time since he was rescued at what he was wearing. Needless to say, it was...uh...different than what he started out with.

He looked up from his hands and wondered out loud. "Tifa? Uh...Who exactly changed me? I had those green slacks on and now-"

Tifa straightened her back. She looked proudly at Cloud and interrupted his sentence. "-I did."

"Aw, jeez, Tifa! Wha-"

"-well...why _not_? I'm your _fiance_, Cloud. Nobody else minded me doing it!" Actually, the rest of the guys sort of got a kick out of it. But she wouldn't tell him that.

"Fiance..." He reached over and gently took her left hand to see the very ring he bought. It never left her finger since she put it on. He let out a quiet, nervous gulp. "But I didn't get to even ask.." he looked at her face nervously and in embarrassment.

She looked right in his eyes. "You didn't even have to."

With that said, they fell into silence again, looking at the floor in front of them.

Cloud suddenly turned his head toward Tifa. "W...we..don't have to have...like, kids or anything just yet, uh, do we?"

Tifa always thought Cloud was cute when he stammered like that. "_No_, Cloud. we don't..."

That made Cloud breathe a sigh of relief.

"But I _would_ like to plan the wedding! Marlene could be the flower girl...Barret...no maybe Cid...could be the best man...and what color should I wear? Maybe..."

Cloud buried his head in his hands again. "Oh, God. This is scarier than fighting Sephiroth..."


	15. Chapter 15

XV.

Barret, Cid, and Vincent cheered as Tifa finally led Cloud gently down the hall to the lobby.

Cid ran over to Cloud when he and Tifa reached the end of the hall. "Haven't seen YOU fer a coupla days! Yer lookin' a #$*^ lot better than when we found ya. Green skin kinda looks crappy, but at least yer walkin' now!"

"I'm feeling better. I'll be back to normal in no time."

"Hey! And now that you're getting better, d'ya think you can show me how to do that crazy thing that you do with your sword? Y'know, that flip-in the-hand thingy?"

"Maybe Cloud should sit for now..." Tifa suggested.

"No, no...I can do this. It would drive me nuts just to sit here." Cloud said. He walked over to where his two favorite swords stood in the corner-the Buster sword and the Ultima. He just couldn't part with either. The Buster looked like it always did, but the Ultima's blade was a light blue, obviously reflecting his condition. He picked up both with a grunt and handed the Buster to Cid. "Take this."

He stood parallel to Cid a good distance away, with his left fist on his hip and the Ultima blade held straight up to the ceiling in his right. "Take it in your right hand, like this..."

Cid stood the same way as Cloud, and did as he was told. It was comical to see them stand the same way like that.

"Hold it up straight, then let it fall to your right. Quickly turn your hand to the left and catch it when it just reached vertical again. Like this." He did as he said. He let the sword fall. It made a huge blue arc in the air. Cloud then deftly caught it as it fell and swung it around so it was vertical in the air again. "You try."

"Shouldn't you kids be doin' that _outside_?" asked Barret.

Cid waved the comment away. "Not _us!_ We know what we're doin', don't we, Cloud? Like real pros!"

Cloud just shrugged his shoulders as best he could.

"OK, lemme try."

He tried it once. It just fell to the ground, as Cid didn't catch it right. "Hmm. Let me practice." He continued to try.

The communicator beeped as it lay on a nearby table, and Cloud answered it.

"Yeah?..." His face then looked worried. "Yeah, what's wrong? Ridgeson is planning to poison _everything_? And he wants to blow up the lab? Sure, we'll be there in a jif! Wha..what's going on there? Bill?_ BILL?_" He gave up. He clicked it shut.

Clang! The sword fell to the ground as Cid failed again.

He glared at the others in the lobby. "We have to get to the lab where I was held...That crazy scientist Ridgeson wants to use the Lifestream to poison the earth just as it's poisoning me. And he wants to blow up the lab with Triniman inside! They were taking him away as I was talking to him!" Cloud coughed a little.

CLANG!

"And YOU think you're going, too? Like that?" Tifa grilled him.

Cloud had a coughing fit. He held his ribs, as they were still tender. When it ended he looked up at Tifa again.

"Well...why not?"

Tifa spread her hands. "Well...DUH, Cloud!"

"But we have to go to the crater anyway! This guy saved my life! We gotta get him out. And yes, I'm going, too. I have to anyway. I'll go and change." He turned on his heel and ran back to his room.

CLANG!

"UUUURRGH!" Tifa threw up her hands in frustration.

"Let's get the materia." Barret said.

"Oh, yeah!" Tifa went over to the dresser drawer that held the satchel with the materia. She opened the door. She noticed something wrong as she shuffled the stuff in the dresser with a hand. "It's-it's not here-"

Uh-oh. "Not THERE? Then where is it?" Vincent thought out loud.

Barret had a flash of understanding. "Yo...that dude that stole the rest of our stuff..."

"...Was really after the materia! But where did he take it? And how would he know where it was, let alone that I would be alone that night to make it easier for him to take?"

Barret, Vincent, and Cid looked at each other and spoke at the same time-"YUFFIE!"

Cloud returned to the lobby. Instead of that ratty old purple SOLDIER outfit with the missing shoulderpad he always wore, he stepped out in a black tank and loose-fitting black pants, with heavy black suede boots. His old shoulder harness was still around his waist and shoulders, but both shoulderpads were removed now. He had heavy black gloves. Under his left armlet a tight-fitting black arm guard, sort of like under Tifa's golves, ran up to the middle of his bicep. Everyone was surprised at the change. His glowing blue eyes, greenish skin, and spiky blonde hair stood out in even more contrast to all that black. His bandages around his chest peeked up from underneath the tank.

Barret commented, "Whass all that black for? You in some kinda secret organization after all?".

"I got sick of just wearing one shoulderpad. It was throwing my stance off-balance. And I want nothing to do anymore with Shinra, including wearing SOLDIER gear. This last experience with Ridgeson really broght me to a point." He scanned the team with a glare. He stopped scanning when he reached Tifa's face. His gaze was fixed there.

Tifa was impressed at the change. Cloud looked rather imposing, she thought, in all that black. She returned his gaze from the other side of the room. Cloud wasn't the muscleboud brute that Barret was, not that Barret was a brute, but he was a very big man, at 6'4", and all muscle. Cloud was a more conservative height, more balanced, except for his long legs. He had muscles, too, but they were lighter. However, he had a very deep ribcage from front to back, considering his build, and Tifa assumed it was because of his weapon. All that swinging around of a huge sword made the difference. Not a bad difference, either.

The look that Cloud gave her now was different from all the others. Before he always just looked sheepishly down at the floor whenever he talked to her or anyone else. But now, even if his eyes didn't glow, they were hard to look away from. They gazed at her with a penetrating quality, definitely not out of anger, but of-ownership? She couldn't look away.

An old woman appeared out of the hallway. She took one look at Cloud's gaze at Tifa, and, well, misinterpreted it.

"What's THIS?" She huffed. "Uh! Boys nowadays! That's all they seem to want!" She said as she glared at him. She left to go outside with another huff.

Cloud opened his eyes wide when he snapped out of his gaze at Tifa. He turned quickly toward the woman, then started to scour the floor with his eyes again. His head hung low and his brows were drawn together in embarrassment. _Well, that was part of it, but not all of it!_ Cloud angrily thought to himself.

Tifa walked over to him with a smirk on her face. _Poor Cloud,_ she thought. _Someone always has to have an opinion about him._

She took one of his arms and pulled his ear down to her mouth. She whispered into it.

"I'll bet SHE wears mythril-plated underwear!"

Cloud's eyes opened wide a second time. He never thought that Tifa would come out with something like that. He turned his wide eyes toward Tifa and gave her his own smile.

"That's better," Tifa whispered again now that Cloud was smiling.

As she was standing in front of Cloud with her back toward him, she suddenly felt an arm around her waist. She looked down and saw a black glove. It was, of course, Cloud's. He gently pulled her closer without a word. He pressed his lips against the back of her head.

Barret was more focused on the materia problem. "That guy that stole our stuff took all the materia, too. He must have been hired by Yuffie. We won't have any to work with!"

"Well, we have no time to get it now," Cloud said as he reluctantly pulled his mouth an inch away from Tifa's head. "Ridgeson's plan is in gear. We gotta jet over there ASAP."

"You're right, kid. I'll get the _Highwind_ ready." Cid said as he tried to catch the Buster sword for the last time.

It flew out of his hand, and into a table with a glass lamp on top. CRASH! The sword went right through both and the table and the lamp lay in pieces on the floor. Everyone stopped and stared.

Cid turned red as a summon materia. "Uh...I'll...I'll pay for it..."


	16. Chapter 16

XVI.

Cid had his pilot run the_Highwind_ at maximum speed. They made the two-day trip in a day. Needless to say, there was a lot of wracked nerves in the cockpit for that time period.

When the team got to the plain near the lab, they waited until nightfall again, as it would be easier to slip in. They all across the plain...including Cloud, with the blue-bladed Ultima sword on his back.

It didn't take too long to get to the lab, and nightfall helped them get closer to the lab than they would have in daylight. When they got there, they all crouched behind a new fence a small distance away from the side door. Armed guards were all over the place. It would be harder this time for all of them to sneak in.

Cloud suddenly coughed again. "Here's the plan..." he whispered.

Everyone listened in silence.

Cloud then started climbing the fence! Before anyone could say anything, he vaulted over it and landed on the other side. He looked back at them through the fence wire and whispered, "Cover my butt for me when I get back!" He ran off toward the door.

Of course, Tifa threw a fit. She made a motion to get over the fence herself and run after him, but the guys held her back. "Yo, chill, Tifa. He'll be back. He usually can pull stuff like that off. We can't all get in there unnoticed anyway."

Tifa's face turned red. "OOOOH!" She hissed. "If he comes back here alive I'll kill 'im dead!"

_She won't like that_, Cloud thought. _Maybe if I find something to bring back to her she won't be as mad._

He headed around to the far side of the building. He knew the door was there that Cid and the rest of them used to rescue him the first time. But he had to stop.

_Damn! Mythril crossbows!,_ he thought.

Two big guards were there in front of the door, each with a feared weapon called a mythril crossbow. These weapons operated like a normal, old-fashioned crossbow, but the pikes used in them were huge, and the barbs long and sharp. If either marksman got a lucky shot, usually right throught he heart, someone could be dead in a matter of minutes. He flattened himself against the building and remained in the shadows until he could think of a way to get in.

Then he saw a drainpipe to the top of the roof. There was the way.

Cloud silently used his long legs to climb to the top of the low-lying roof. The guards never noticed. He crouched down just above the guards. His blonde brows contracted again as the thought his way through. He took the sword from his back and held it out in front as he concentrated. He then leaped from the roof, and tucked the long blade under his feet like a surfboard. He fell toward the guards.

Crack! The flatted blade hit both guards together on the tops of their heads. They fell to the ground unconscious.

The sword fell to the ground, and so did Cloud. He landed on a hand and a knee like a cat, but couldn't go in the door right away due to another coughing fit. Suddenly he felt hot.

When he recovered, he cautiously opened the door. No one in there so far.

He flattened himself against the wall as he sneaked down the hall, and found the door to the storage closet that Cid told him he was locked in before. If the scientist was anywhere, it would be here. He hit the control panel hard, and it opened.

There he was-at least, Cloud thought he was. He was a short, stocky man with a receding hairline and a dark beard and mustache, and glasses.

The doctor was terrified at first when he saw the young man dressed in black come in with that HUGE blue blade on his back, but then realized it was the captured boy from before.

Cloud knelt down in front of him.

The scientist was held around the neck by the same way Cloud was. But it didn't look like he was held long enough to develop scars.

Cloud whispered. "Bill?" he asked. Even though this was the man that saved his life, he had only spoken to him once and never seen him.

"Yes...Cloud Strife?" He noticed the bandage around Cloud's chest and the scars around his neck.

Cloud didn't want to waste time answering. He darted his icy eyes around the room. "Where's the key?"

"It should be in the wall there...under a panel..."

Cloud checked it out. It wasn't there.

Cloud backed away from the wall where the key should have been.

"Plan B." He whispered.

He went over to Bill and inspected the cuff around his neck. "Hold_very_ still," Cloud said, his icy eyes fixed on Bill's.

Cloud took the blade off his back and held it flat in front of him. He butted the edge against the cuff around Bill's neck.

"I suggest you close your eyes," said Cloud with deadly seriousness. Bill was MORE than happy to do so. He squeezed his eyes shut, and held his breath for good measure.

Cloud took a short practice swing. He then riveted his eyes on the cuff. He took the blade all the way back, and swung it at Bill's neck full force.

CRACK! The cuff exploded in pieces from the blade striking it's mark. Bill was free, his neck not even scratched.

Bill got up to his knees, and Cloud fell on his. After replacing the royal blue blade on his back, Cloud fell further to his hands, again struggling for air. He felt the sweat run down his neck and back. The scientist could have swore that the blade turned ten blue shades darker in the moment Cloud broke the cuff. In fact, it did when he looked at it again. Cloud's long blonde spikes of hair almost reached the floor as his head hung down from his hunched shoulders, which jolted up and down as he tried to breathe.

"Cloud?..." The doctor asked as he put a hand on Cloud's back.

"_Gasp!_...I just need a_gasp!_second... _gasp!_...Ok...Let's...let's go...

Then all the lighting in the building went red, the light flashing on and off. Cloud must have tripped an alarm when he broke the cuff with his sword.

Cloud got up on both feet slowly again. He felt hot and weak. Bill and Cloud went out the door, Bill trying not to run too fast away from Cloud. Bill noticed Cloud's eyes glowing an icy blue in the dark lighting.

They ran down the hall from where Cloud came, and out the door. One of the big guards out there was just recovering from his bump on the head. When Cloud swung the door open he landed again on the ground as the heavy door cracked against his head.

Inside the building, more guards jumped as the whole room went red. "Triniman's out somehow!" They said to each other. They ran down the red halls to pursue.

They saw the door to the outside ajar. They swung it open and saw the two downed guards. They knew they were hot on Cloud and Triniman's trail.

Cloud fell again to his hands and knees, gasping. They both turned to see the armed guards in pursuit a couple yards in back of them. They were getting closer. "GO!...GET AWAY!" Cloud yelled with a wave of his arm. He looked like he was in agony as he looked at Triniman.

"But your condition!"

Cloud's eyes opened wider. His blue eyes glowed in the darkness. "GET_OUT_! There's no time for them to wait for me! Tell them I said to get on the ship and head to the Crater! I'll catch up! NOW!"

Triniman got up and walked backwards for a bit, them ran in the same direction they were heading to meet...um.._them_.

As he ran further toward the fence, he saw four shapes behind it. "Are you...'them'?" he asked as he tried to catch his breath from running.

"Dat's right! We're 'them'!" The big man with ebony skin and the gun-arm said.

Triniman never thought he could do it, but somehow he got over the fence. The big man along with the other three that were huddled there caught him as he landed to help cushion his fall.

"He said to get on the...Highwind? And get ready to head for the...Crater? He'll catch up?"

"That's what we'll do," Cid said.

The attractive girl with long brown hair looked terrified. "We've got to wait for him! If you don't, I will!"

Bill understood her concern. "Miss, there are at least ten guards this way coming with mythril crossbows. I think we better trust your friend."

"Let's jet!" Cid ordered.

As they were running toward the ship, Tifa turned her head toward the scientist. "He's my fiancee!" She said with tears streaming from her eyes.

_Uh-oh,_ he thought. _I hope her fiancee doesn't end up with a pike through his back!_


	17. Chapter 17

XVII.

I'm soooooooooo sorry...when I was moving my website in April/May '09, I did something stupid and completely zapped this chapter with no backup to refer to. i'm really sorry. O well, it's not top-rate literature so I personally won't miss it much, but I will try to reconstruct this chapter sometime in the future. Thanks for reading. And always make sure to MAKE BACKUP COPIES...lol!


	18. Chapter 18

XVIII.

"So the blonde young man with the glowing eyes was responsible for this?"

Ridgeson sat in his white office, his white marble-top desk in front of him. He sat in a plush brown leather chair. The whole room seemed to echo from him tapping his pen on the desk.

"So what are your excuses?", he finally managed to say.

"He knocked us out, sir. He fell on top of us!" said Myer, the big guard holding a mythril crossbow.

Myer was the best marksman Ridgeson knew. He was so good, he never carried more than one pike with him, which hung from his item belt. He was wearing heavy black boots, brown pants, a simple vest, and a headband that went around his forehead and was half hidden underneath his thick, wavy blonde hair.

Ridgeson only gave a frustrated huff and leaned back in his chair. He rolled his pen in his hand and stared at the blank white walls.

"Any brilliant ideas?"

"He yelled something to Triniman about the Crater, sir...it seems they.."

"Then that's where we're going. We need to eliminate him because he's seen too much. If Triniman is there just capture him. The rest of his friends, too. Once the young man is dead, it will be VERY difficult for anyone to be freed from any more mythril cuffs."

"Sir! We are guards, not hitmen!" Myer said as he raised his eyebrows.

Ridgeson was extremely displeased at the headstrong Myer. "Well, what are you paid for? Besides, if these men leak what's happening here, it'll be a threat to ourselves...and it would be in the duty of a GUARD to GUARD against threats to ourselves, wouldn't it?"

Myer sighed with resignation. He straightened his back and puffed out his broad chest. "Yes, sir. We'll get an airship ready for you."

"Make sure it's a small one." He suddenly had a flash of an idea. He pointed a wiry finger at Myer. "...and don't follow them too closely. It might be better to trap them inside the crater instead of just going for them. Bring some help with Mako lasers, too. Don't bring any of those carrying the crossbows. They failed once, and once is enough. However, I'll let you go, since I know your skill."

"No doubt they'll be part of a group. I'll be there shortly."

"Yes, sir." Myer let go another heavy sigh and spun on his heel to leave.


	19. Chapter 19

XIX.

"Uggggggh..."

He must have been out for a long while, at least a day and a half. He felt a little stronger, but he skin still felt hot. The long sleep helped some, but it seemed he was getting worse each day even with the rest he was getting. He knew it wasn't going to be easy getting to Holy at the bottom of the crater, as the more he moved around, the worse he got. But he needed to get there and have Holy remove the lifestream in his body.

The cliffs down to the chamber where Holy was were so steep the last time they were down there, that he knew there would be no way for the rest of the guys to carry him, except for maybe the last couple of yards. And the rocks were always falling out from under them. He would have to get down there under his own power. The team would just have to rest often so he didn't get any worse than he was. He hoped they wouldn't mind.

He slowly lifted up his head, and pushed some of his blonde hair aside since it was hanging in his eyes a little too much. He thought he was alone until he saw a red pair of boots on a beautiful pair of legs in front of where he lay. His eyes followed the legs up to the black miniskirt, the white cutoff tank, the lovely long dark brown hair, the arms crossed in front of the chest..(huh?)...and the nastiest scowl on Tifa's sweet face he's ever seen.

Ouch! He opened his glowing blue eyes wide. The look made his head shrink back into his shoulders.

"Uh...H-...hi, Tifa..." said Cloud with a boyish half-smirk.

The half-smirk disappeared when she didn't answer.

"Um...the...the scientist-he's OK, isn't he?"

No answer. Her fiery dark brown eyes narrowed.

Cloud remembered his gift. He started digging in his belt for something as he lay on the bale of greens.

"I...brought you something!" His smile returned.

He produced a very flat wild iris from his belt. Almost immediately the petals started falling off. Only one was left on the stem when he held it up to her. He looked at the flower and shrunk back again when he saw the most measly petal was the only one tenaciously left stuck on the stem.

She still didn't say anything.

Now he felt sort of the same way that he did when his comrades stared at him when he was told by the higher-ups he didn't have what it took to be in SOLDIER. He laid the half-dead flower on the bale of greens and tried to sit up. Discovering that the blue sword was still on his back, he got all the way up off the bale, his front was covered in little pieces of greens. He avoided eye contact with her, shuffling his feet and running his eyes from one part of the floor to another, with his hands in his pockets.

He suddenly took a short, quick breath.

"Tifa, I had to do that..."

She suddenly jumped up from where she was sitting. She burned a hole right through him with her dark eyes. "YOU had to do that? YOU had to get yourself almost killed?" She jerked her head with every "you".

"Tifa, I..." He managed to look into her furious face.

She continued through the interruption. "YOU couldn't stay in the airship, AND you didn't let us go in with you!"

Cloud spread his hands out and shrugged as he talked. "There were guards! Five people couldn't go in one building unnoticed!"

He was right. But...

"You could have had BARRET, or CID, or VINCENT, or even ME go in!"

"My weapon was the only one that could get through the mythril cuff that held him! They hid the key to the cuff, so I had to break it with my sword!"

He was right again. Even so...

She went over to the wall next to the exit door. She turned to face it and stayed that way as she listened to him.

"And there's NO way I would let YOU go in there by yourself! How could you even suggest that?" There was the slightest tinge of fear in his words, since the thought of her going into a place like that herself terrified him.

Cid let his trainer pilot operate the helm. He walked over to the scientist Triniman, who was lost in his thoughts.

"Long time since your two friends went in there."

"Yeah," said Cid.

"He looked real bad when he walked to the steps over there." said Bill.

"Aw! You don't _know_ him! He's about the toughest kid I know! He'll be boucning back soon. In fact I'll go check now." he turned to leave, but had a quick second thought and turned his head back. "I'm Cid Highwind."

"William Triniman. Call me Bill."

"Nice ta meetcha." He pointed his finger at Triniman and shook it as he talked. "You go and feel MORE than welcome to go wherever you want on this boat. You're a guest here."

"Yes. Thank you."

Cid gave the scientist the "thumbs-up" and continued on his way. He wanted to check on Cloud, and started down the steps to the lower deck. He stopped in front of the Chocobo bay when he heard...arguing?

She suddenly turned to face him. "Cloud...we want to be wed soon! I want to make sure you're alive for it...and you keep wasting all your energy on STUPID things rather than getting down to the crater and getting yourself healed!..."

He backed her against the wall, his eyes firmly fixed to anywhere exept her eyes.

"You're going to make me say it..." he said quietly.

Cid heard the angry words through the closed, windowless door...and threw his hands in front of him as if pushing something back. His eyes grew wide and he whispered to himself.

"Sorry, kid...ain't gonna go there!" he turned and headed back toward the deck. When he saw Triniman's look that questioned him on how his friend was, Cid just waved a hand to blow it off.

"Trust me...he's fine."

She uncrossed her arms and made fists out of her hands. She held them rigidly on either side of her body as she grilled him with her eyes.

"WHAT?" Her words flowed together from her fury. "That I'm being too much of a mother? That you won't marry me? That you're going to keep going off gallavanting to places and get worse and die on me? That you..."

That was IT. While she was ranting and raving, Cloud pushed her back with his chest so she was firmly against the wall. Their bodies pressed together, and his glowing blue eyes were finally riveted on hers, but she noticed that they weren't filled with the fury that her own eyes were. He smacked a hand hard against the wall to her back and leaned on it. He moved his head close enough to hers so he could feel her words on his face.

Then, he surprisingly took his other hand and put it under her chin. He lightly his fingers under it and stroked the front with his thumb.

"Don't worry..." he said low and breathily as he gazed into her eyes. "Everything will be...just...fine..." His voice was as smooth as silk. He planted a full kiss square on her mouth.

OOOOOOOOH! The Secret Weapon! He always said that when her fear got to her in the past, and it always worked in calming her down. She absolutely loved it when he said that to her. Her fury melted in his kiss.

He put his arms around her waist, and immediately it became more heated. Tifa squeezed her arms under his and her hands went around to his back. She began to unlatch his sword harness around his waist. When she slipped it over his head, both the sword and the harness CLUNKED to the floor to his back.

She brought her arms around to his chest and started pulling out his black tank. She slipped that over his head too, as Cloud wasn't about to stop her.

Cloud ran his hands up and down her body, still locked with her in the same kiss. He tucked his fingers under her own suspenders and slowly slipped them off her shoulders. He them wrapped both arms around her tiny waist and pressed himself into her. He almost lifted her off the ground as he walked her over to the bale of greens.

He was just about to lay her down on the bed of greens.

Triniman considered Cid's curt reply. He wondered how he took so little time in checking on his friend. They both gazed at the horizon, side-by-side. Feeling uncomfortable with Cid's sudden silence, Triniman excused himself. Cid reminded him again that he could make himself at home. Triniman thanked him and left.

Triniman started down the steps to the lower deck. He made his way past the closed door of the Chocobo bay, when he heard the voice of...the girl that told him Cloud was her fiancee?

"Oh, God, Cloud...," she said in a low moan. The scientist heard soft smacking sounds from behind the door. He threw his hands in front of him as if pushing something back. His eyes grew wide and he whispered to himself.

"Whoa...I'll check on him later..." he turned and headed back toward the deck.

Cid noticed Bill's face burning a bright red as he rose to the upper deck from the steps.

"Ah...yes...he-he IS fine."

Cloud was kneeling down on one knee, his arms wrapped tightly around Tifa, who was on both knees facing Cloud. She had her arms around his neck, but the only thing holding her up was his arms around her waist.

Cloud made a motion to lay her down. She took his lead.

And then suddenly...Cloud had another coughing fit.

He didn't want to hack in her face, and his ribs were still tender anyway. So he reflexedly let Tifa go, and her body flopped unceremoniously down on the the bale behind her. He hugged his arms around himself as he hacked. He fell to both knees, bent over, with his head almost to the floor as he coughed.

Tifa scowled, made a fist and pounded the bale of greens once as she lay face-up.

Recovering from the frustration, she hauled herself up and stroked Cloud's back during his coughing. She felt his shoulders jerk with every cough.

"Cloud?"

He sat himself on the floor. His coughing slowly died off. He looked very dizzy for a minute as he held his forehead with a hand.

She ran her hand along his cheek.

"You're burning up. You should rest some more before we get off."

"Yeah...that's...that was a bummer..."

Tifa just shrugged. "Couldn't do anything about it." Her voice was a soft whisper now. "Let's get you to your room."

She stood up, and he slowly followed. She took his tank top and shoulder harness from the floor and put it in the crook of her arm. She tried to pick up his blue-bladed sword, but it was extremely big and heavy. She struggled to carry it.

That was cute to him. "I'll carry that." He picked it out of her hand and carried it easily so it dragged behind him, almost on the floor.

"Oh, WAIT! I forgot something!"

She went over to the bale of greens. She picked up the half-dead flower and held it as if it were made of delicate spun glass.

"You're not thinking of keeping that, are you?"

"Of course I am! A gift is a gift."

Cloud rolled his eyes without her seeing and followed her out of the Chocobo bay.


	20. Chapter 20

XX.

Cid, Tifa, Vincent, Barret, and Cloud were ending their second day on their way down to the crater. Most of the first day had gone smoothly for the team, although everyone noticed that Cloud was looking worse, and his sword was turning a shade darker once in a while. Every mile or so down, they all had to rest for an hour or so to let Cloud recover some energy. If it was a straight walk on a level surface, they wouldn't have had to stop so often, but since the craggy rocks and sheer cliffs were difficult for even the healthier members to maneuver, the effect was compounded on Cloud.

Even though Cloud was put in the back rank to help protect him in case of an attack, he still needed to lead the team as to which direction to take next. He said that he could feel when he was getting nearer to Holy, and the Lifestream in his body was probably helping him sense his way.

It would take another day and a half, as Cid estimated it, to get down to the bottom. The team of course was down this way before, but Cloud's illness, compounded with the way Holy tore apart the rocks as it sped out to save the planet from Meteor about two months ago, actually made the trip longer than the last time they were here.

The team was now camped in a small chamber that they found just off the main entrance to the crater for the night, with enough rocks to rest their elbows on. Cid lit a campfire in the middle of the team, as it was very dark in the chamber, except for the glowing green of the Mako intersparsed here and there in the rocks.

Everyone noticed how dangerously quiet Cloud seemed to be in the past few days. Not that he was usually spouting things fromhis mouth, but his quiet personality got even more quiet. He didn't even argue with Barret when the big man gave him a hard time. He walked into this chamber like the sword on his back weighed a thousand pounds, and, to Cloud, it did.

The rest of the team was on break for now. Cid and Vincent were napping, and Barret was reay to do so. Cloud was just trying to manage for the time being.

Cloud sat and propped himself up against a rock after gratefully placing his sword to the side. His golden blonde hair was full of sweat. It dripped onto his chest from his face. He leaned against the rock and put his head back. He closed his eyes for a moment and breathed deeply, with a forearm on his knee.

Tifa came up to his side. She again stroked her hand down his cheek. His skin was on fire. The sweat on his face and neck reflected the green light of the Mako and the orange of the campfire Vincent had set up for the crew, and especially for the scientist Triniman, who huddled close to the light of the fire a little ways from Tifa and Cloud. He noticed the boy looked very sick indeed now.

Triniman has never ventured into the crater before and was a little uptight about he surroundings. He poked at the fire with a stick once in a while for something to keep his mind off where he was. But worrying about the boy helped with that, too.

Tifa just wanted Cloud to get healed. "Maybe we should stay here for a day or so..."

Cloud half opened his glowing eyes and turned his head, trying to gaze into hers. He took her hand in his.

"I couldn't ask everyone...to stay down here...another day. Just for me. We're...we're almost there. I can feel it."

Tifa looked frustrated as she looked into his tired face.

"I...would like an outside wedding," she said, to get her own mind off how worried she actually was.

"Doesn't...matter...as long as I'm with you," said Cloud as he closed his eyes while Tifa stroked his hair.

Tifa spied Cloud's Ultima sword in the corner. Her face perked up as another idea to ease the tension came to her. "I betcha that's hard to swing around! Can I try it?"

Before Cloud could answer, and before Tifa could even see his puzzled look, she was heading for the blade. She stopped dead in front of it and curled her fingers around the handle. Cloud was amused that she succeded in her attempt to pick it up. She always felt more comfortable using her fists and feet rather than using another object to fight with, and the way she was tottering back and forth with the sword in her hands made Cloud draw his knees up so he could rest his arms on them. He covered his mouth so Tifa couldn't see him snickering at her clumsy swings with his weapon.

"Hey, Hon! Do I swing it like THIS?" She turned her shoulders the way she saw Cloud prepare for a swing hundreds of times. She let the blade fly in front of her in a huge blue arc. The weight of the sword and the effort she was using almost made her fall on her bottom. She had to do a little dance to recover her balance.

Tifa snapped her head towards Cloud after regaining her balance. She had a look on her face of sheer pride, as if she was promoted to First Class Swordsperson for just that one swing. Cloud was trying desperately to stifle a roar of laughter watching her.

"That was cool! I'll do it again!"

She set the weapon back behind her with her shoulders again. She swung again. This time she DID lose her balance from the weapon's weight and awkward size. She almost fell to he floor as she brought the blue blade around her front. She tried not to hit it on the ground, but she couldn't stop the edge of the blade from hitting the floor with a CLANG! Sparks flew everywhere as the sword bit into the ground. She let the handle go and it stayed stuck into the ground.

Tifa tried to pull the blade out, but it wouldn't budge. She stepped back and put a hand to her mouth, her eyes widened, as she stared at the awful, horrible deed she had done.

Cloud thought she looked like a child who just broke a valuable china plate.

Tifa took the hand from her mouth and shook a finger at the sword embedded in the solid rock.

"I...I broke it! Didn't I! Cloud! I broke it!"

Cloud took away the hand from his mouth to reveal a broad, teeth baring smile.

"No, you didn't...," he said before he grunted and got up from where he sat.

He walked over to the sword and took the handle in his hands. He grunted as he yanked up the blade from the ground to free it. He waved the part of the edge that struck the ground in front of her. It was just as flawless as a newly forged blade.

"See? No problem. But check the ground..."

Tifa bent down to inspect the point of impact as Cloud suggested. There was a huge gash in the solid ground, and it looked as if the area around it was singed.

She and Cloud smiled at each other as he again placed the sword to the side and sat back down. He leaned again against the rock and gave a long groan with his head back and his eyes closed.

She stroked his hair again.

"It's great to see you smile," she whispered in his ear.

They found a shadow over them. A very large shadow.

"Hi, Barret," Tifa said.

"Hey, girl." he said as he knelt down to inspect Cloud. For as much trouble he caused Cloud, he had a deep respect for Cloud that he didn't think that was anyone's business to know.

There was a moment of silence as Barret looked into Cloud's green-tinted, sweat-covered face.

He cocked his arm without the gun on it toward Cloud.

"You a tough kid," was all he said. "You a real tough kid."

"For...someone who's on...his back all the time..." Cloud whispered as he closed his eyes.

"Shu'up! Ain't what I'm talkin' about! I'm sayin' that it ain't how often you on your back, it's how often you git up. Look at Dyne...he was thinkin' he was tough stayin' at Corel..."

Cloud listened in silence as Tifa kept stroking his hair. Barret did have a good heart.

"...But when he was offered a chance to help the planet, what did he do? Threw hisself of a cliff! You keep hangin' in there. That's why I say-you a tough kid."

"Thanks." Cloud whispered.

"Don't 'chu forget it!" Barret ordered as he got up again to walk back toward the fire.

Tifa laid her head on Cloud's shoulder after Barret left. She gave his chest a rub as she nuzzled closer.

"Just a little longer...and you'll be better..."

Since her head was down, she didn't see the frightened look on Cloud's face as he stroked Tifa's dark hair. He hoped he would live long enough to get to Holy. He wasn't sure that would happen, considering how he was feeling at the moment...


	21. Chapter 21

XXI.

Ridgeson, Myer, and Lane stood at the lip of the crater. They all peered down at the huge hole in the ground in front of them.

"Hmmmm...If we can make good progress, we can catch up with them inside," Ridgeson observed. "We'll trap them in there." He turned toward his henchmen. "I'll review the plan again just in case there are any unnecessary questions. Our main target is the young blond man with the glowing eyes. Capture everyone else. They'll be useful."

If they put up too much of a struggle, then run. But I want the young man dead, as I personally do not care whether the others live or not."

Myer nodded in resignation. Lane gave an evil grin. "Y'know, the cute chick down there is his girl. Think that might help ya, Chadness?"

Ridgeson found Lane's relaxed attitude somewhat annoying at times, but in all he has proved himself useful. Ridgeson tolerated the informal question.

"Yes...that would help. She would be our second target. As I stated before, I don't care whether she's dead, but in case trouble comes about, she could help us get to the young man."

Let's get going. They are probably so deep inside that it wuld take them hours just to get halfway out."

The three of them, plus a couple extra helping hands, started on their long descent.


	22. Chapter 22

XXII.

Tifa took her head off Cloud's chest. She sighed and looked up into his face.

She rubbed his chest again. "I'm getting hungry. I'll go over to the supply sack we brought and get something. Want anything?"

Cloud half-opened his eyes for a moment. Being poisoned with the Lifestream injections he had been given, he hadn't felt hungry at all for about a week. He had to force everything down. Not eating quite enough only made him weaker, but he figured he'd probably be a sorry case anyway, considering how much they must have injected into him.

"Just...some water. That's all."

"K." She unwound her legs and tore herself away from him. She headed over to the supply sack closer to the fire.

Cloud was holding on as best he could. Every muscle ached. That he could handle. The high fever he could handle, too. It was just that it was difficult to breathe, even after a couple of steps now. When he first entered the crater, he could go for at least two miles without a break. But now, as time wore on and his body wore down, it was hard to even get up off the ground. He knew he wouldn't be able to even carry his sword soon.

He hated the thought of anybody having to have to carry him the last day or so to get to Holy. No one had to be here. But he also figured if anybody did mind, they would let him know. Especially Barret.

He always felt like there was no air in his body. He breathed long, deep breaths trying to fill his lungs as he leaned against the rock.

Triniman could hear Cloud struggling from where he sat near the fire. As soon as Tifa left Cloud's side, he picked himself up. He kneeled in front of Cloud, inspecting him. Times like this made him ashamed of his scientific background.

Triniman saw how bad Cloud was hurting. It was written all over Cloud's face when he turned his head and opened his glowing eyes toward the scientist. Cloud was only twenty-four now, but Triniman always thought his eyes had a more mature dignity about them, even though they DID glow. "I have to apologize...for what my colleague has done. This is a disgrace." He sighed and looked down at the floor. "My imprisonment was terrible, but I know mine was nothing compared to yours."

Cloud gave the best smile he could. He forced words out between breaths. "You saved my life..why...apologize?"

Tifa returned with a small bottle of water for Cloud and some whole grain bars for herself.

"Thanks..." Cloud said as he gratefully accepted the bottle from Tifa.

Tifa turned up half of her mouth. "No problem." She opened a bar pack and snacked as she listened.

"Just the thought of all this experimentation..." Triniman's words ended in a whisper as he trailed off in thought. His eyes returned to Cloud's with a questioning look. "It's strange I didn't hear you in the storage room for all that time you were there. You had no sort of gag on. If I heard you, I could have gotten you out sooner."

Cloud snapped his head away. He nervously shifted position at the thought of reviewing what happened to him for those six days. When he was finished another drink or two, he brought his arms up and wrapped them around his sore chest. His brows were contracted and his eyes shut as he whispered the words out.

"They...made sure...I wouldn't make a sound. I was out during...the day. I was used...as amusement at night."

"Cloud...I am so sorry..."

"No...it's not your fault..."

Tifa struggled for words. "What went on...when you were there?"

Cloud just turned his eyes toward the floor. He had trouble talking about it, mostly because he didn't want to scare Tifa. He felt Tifa worried enough about him already. Not that it wasn't appreciated, though.

Tifa wanted to understand what made Cloud so terrified of being captured again when he was rescued from the lab. "Cloud...please tell me..."

Cloud glanced quickly at her face. When he saw her concern, he drew in a deep breath and began. "I...had to fight them...every night...I was there. If I didn't, they would just knock me-" He winced for a second. "-knock me in the ribs until I passed out. It was better to try and win rather than just...give up. I think...they were studying how the injections were affecting me by...doing that."

"Fight? Every night, in your condition?" Triniman said with disgust.

"Yes. That's how...you never heard me. I was so exhausted by the morning...I slept for most of the time."

Tifa was having a hard time herself accepting the 'research' done to Cloud. "You said before that Lane set a trap for you the night you wanted to propose...was he there?"

"Yeah. He...ran the whole show at night."

Triniman was starting to put it together. "Was he the one with the nosecast? And the red jacket?"

"Yeah. He's still sore about his...brother, supposedly."

"That's old news!" Tifa snapped. "He must be on the warpath or something. He never wanted to have anything to do with his brother, anyway."

"Don't know..." Cloud trailed off. He took a long drink that finished off the bottle for him.

"So...you two have known each other for a while? Tifa told me that you're engaged."

"We've known each other...all our lives." He gave another little wince. "We grew up practically...side-by-side." Cloud glowed as he said the words, he was so proud.

"And we're having an outside wedding! Wanna come?" Tifa brightened as she spoke.

Triniman got a kick out of the young couple's enthusiasm. "Sure. Have you two set a date yet?"

"No," Tifa answered for the both of them. "But I would say about...six months from now?" She turned toward Cloud and rested a hand on his chest. "How 'bout that? Good for you?"

"Fine...with me." He gave Tifa's forehead a peck.

"Well, young man, you still have a way to go." Triniman out a supportive hand on Cloud's shoulder and gently shook it. "You and your fiancee get some rest."

"Sure." Cloud said as Tifa nodded, smiling.

Triniman made his way back to the fire so Cloud and Tifa could be alone again.

Tifa stroked Cloud's cheek. She gave it a little peck. "You should get some sleep. We had a long day today. We'll have a long day tomorrow."

"Yeah." Cloud grunted as he lay down. He put his head on his forearms. He was out in a matter of seconds as Tifa stroked his back until he slept.

Tifa didn't want to be anywhere else except here. So when she finished her last bar she snuggled close to his back as he slept and put an arm around his waist. She thought she could feel him shaking as she drifted off herself.


	23. Chapter 23

XXIII.

The team inched their way through the second day down in the crater. Cloud had to stop almost every couple hours now. Things were not good with him.

They made their way through the craggy rocks, and were now passing through a long, narrow, winding hall-like rock formation that led consistently down further into the crater. Barret almost had to stoop over so to not hit his head on the ceiling.

Surprisingly, they had encountered only one or two small monsters along the way, most likely because Holy's exit from the crater last time killed off any creatures that were unlucky enough to be in its path as it shot out. They were sure they wouldn't find any trouble in this hall, either, as it was too inhabitable and barren for anything to live long in it.

One thing was better about the area of the crater they were in now-they had sure footholds for every step. Both Cid and Barret were almost lost by rocks under their feet deciding to loose themselves from the crater wall and plummet into the seemingly bottomless pit. Cid made sure that every step after that was a good one, and both he and Barret resolved to a fit of cursing that hurt Triniman's ears when they were successfully pulled up from falling.

Cid passed the rare quiet times in the crater by answering Tifa's and Vincent's questions about his piloting school he was dreaming of as he led the rest of the team through the hall.

"So did you find anyone for your school yet?" Vincent asked.

"Oh, yeah! While I was working on the machines at Midgar, I overheard some kids talkin' about flight. I figured I'd approach them about it...they thought it was a neat thing to try. Don't know how they'll learn off an ol' buzzard like me, but I'm sure they got talent."

"Are you getting anything built for it?" Tifa asked.

"Shera's handlin' that !#$ while I'm here. I went and put a LOTTA gil inta buildin' a worthy hanger for the Tiny Bronco now that this *$%* is over with that crazy grey-haired guy. What an ego that sucker had! Ta try an' crash that rock into the planet! He was..." Cid had to stop for a moment. He looked at what was in front of him. He threw his hands up. "JEEZIZ! What's this? A big #$% rock infrunna our way? All the way here and we get stuck!"

Tifa and Vincent inspected the road block. Yes, it did _seem_ like a huge rock prevented them from going any further, even though the hallway had widened into a small chamber. The obstruction was huge. It would take ten men to move it an inch.

Cloud didn't like it. "It doesn't look like a rock to me. It's too rounded to be anything like the other rocks around here."

"DAMMIT! We'll jes' have to blast it out! We ain' got no time for this." Barret cocked his gun-arm towards the obstruction.

Vincent joined Cloud's doubt about Barret's method to open the hall. "Barret, maybe we should listen to Clo-"

Too late. Barret fired a shot at the thing that sat in their way. When the ammo hit it, the shots bit into it...and red started to pour out of the holes.

They heard a very, very loud sound...almost like a roar. And exactly like a roar from a dragon.

Barret turned toward the rest of the very angry team. "Sorry... 'bout that...again..." he stammered as he scratched his head with his whole arm.

Everyone reared back in the chamber and got their weapons out. The dragon roared again and turned it's head so it peeked in the doorway. It moved forward and crashed a huge hole in the wall. Pieces of shattered rock fell to the floor as the team ran for cover.

When the rainfall of rock was over, the team got out from hiding, hopeful that the dragon would turn and just leave. But it must have been hungry, as there ddn't seem nearly enough creatures in the crater anymore to keep the huge monster's hunger in control.

It roared again. It almost shook the ceiling down. It took two or three long strides until it stood in the center of the chamber.

Vincent and Cid were almost behind it, by the door. They tried to make a run for the next room, but the dragon swished its tail and unknowingly hit the the wall above them with it. Even larger rocks piled on top of the two. They had no time or place to run as the large rocks hit them from above. They fell to the floor, and the only thing they could do after that was hold their heads. They lay on the ground as they groaned, trying to clear the stars out of their heads as the dust settled.

Barret continued to pummel the dragon with shots. Triniman was torn between being terrified and being amazed at such a creature, as he's never seen a dragon before. He decided to stay in the background as Barret, Tifa and Cloud tried to keep the monster at bay.

Tifa ran up to the creature and gave it a couple good pops in the ribs. She managed to snap one or two, inhibiting its movements a little. Barret was keeping his distance as he continued to shoot.

Cloud picked up the royal-blue blade from his back. He needed just a couple good slashes. He ran up to the dragon and started to slice. The slashes formed Cloud's trademark cross as the dragon's maroon blood flow down its chest and onto the blade. But the dragon kept going in spite of the four slashes of Cloud's sword.

Cloud knew he made a mistake. That should have killed it. His sickness prevented him from making his cuts deep enough into the dragon's chest. He started to hop back as the dragon reared from the cuts. It looked down and found exactly who made them. The monster turned again and used its tail to whack Cloud clear off his feet into the nearest wall. Cloud gave a loud cry as his back hit the wall. He desperately held on to the huge blade.

Cloud slid down the wall and ended up on his back, stunned from both the tail and the wall. The dragon started toward Cloud, and so did Barret, Tifa and the scientist. Tifa was going to give Cloud the what-for again for this stunt, and at this point, so was Barret.

The dragon stood right atop Cloud. It picked up a huge, claw bearing foot and brought it down fast right where Cloud lay stunned.

He looked up and blinked. All he saw was the huge dragon foot coming right toward his head. Finding that he couldn't roll out in time, he instinctively picked up his sword and held it, point-up toward the ceiling. His eyes were wide with terror as the dragon brought its foot down-right on the blade.

Cloud heard the _thock_ as the foot came down on the blade. The foot kept coming down, until it stopped an inch above the hilt. For Cloud, everything stopped in a second that took all eternity. Cloud gasped as he gripped onto the sword as it stayed, impaled in the clawed foot, with maroon dragon blood dripping down the hilt onto his gloves.

The dragon must have realized its own mistake. It screamed and picked up its foot. Cloud was too dizzy by the tail hit to realize he had a death grip on the blade. The dragon shook it's foot violently in the air as Cloud's mind finally registered to let the handle go.

Cloud could feel himself falling to the ground and hitting it hard with his back. He gave a shout as he hit the ground. He arched his back up and threw his head back as he lay moaning and writhing on the ground. That was it. He knew he wouldn't be able to fight anymore while in his condition.

Triniman, Barret and Tifa watched the bloody blade unstick itself from the dragon's foot and fall from where they stopped. It hit the ground with a resonant CLANG.

The dragon had enough. The crushed bones, slashes, and other various injuries were too much for it. It screamed and turned tail, running out the chamber from where it came. Its screams died off into nothingness.

Barret ran over to check on Vincent and Cid, while the scientist and Tifa stayed with Cloud. Vincent and Cid were etting better, although they would each have one major headache the next day.

Cloud's attempt at getting rid of the moster did him no good. His chest bobbed in and out as he sucked air through his ground teeth.

Cid and Vincent hobbled over with Barret, holding their dizzy heads, to where Cloud lay.

"Let's call it quits for another day, lady and gentlemen...damn, my head hurts..." groaned Cid.

They all sat to recover. Tifa snuggled close to Cloud again. His skin was on fire again. They knew he wouldn't last much longer if Holy wasn't found soon.


	24. Chapter 24

XXIV.

Tifa could smell the lingering smoke on Cid's jacket under her and Cloud's head. He had donated his jacket so the young couple wouldn't have to put their heads on the dirty ground to sleep. His big, heavy blue jacket was as thick and comfortable as a pillow. Albeit a smoky pillow.

She awoke with her arm across Cloud's waist again. He was face up, and as white as a sheet, inspite of his slight tan. There was still a hint of green to his color, too. Before she fell asleep, she thought she felt him shaking-now she knew he was shaking. He was puffing little breaths of air as he tried to breathe. She got herself up on an elbow and put her lips on his head while she stroked his hair.

Cloud seemed to know somehow that Tifa was awake. He turned his head toward her and gave a groan.

He coughed a little, then half-opened his glowing eyes. "...have to...get ...going...we're...so..close..."

Tifa pressed her lips together in frustration. "How close?"

Cloud coughed again. "Next...next room."

She stroked his hair again. "I'll get everyone up."

She would have rather let him lay there to recover more, but it seemed at this point rest wouldn't help at all. The longer the Lifestream remained in him, the longer it had to further poison him.

She went over to Cid, Vincent and Barret. She nudged each of them in turn. "We're close. He says Holy is in the next room."

Vincent quietly obliged to getting up, but Cid and Barret once again cursed themselves awake. Cid, though, stopped to think of why the team was down in the crater again, and, after thinking of what Cloud must be going through, managed for the second or third time in his life to hold his toungue fast.

Cloud wasn't even up from laying on the ground when everyone surrounded him after they were finished stretching out their stiff muscles.

"Hey, kid...let's get you better." Cid said to Cloud as he gave Cloud a soft smack on the shoulder.

Cloud didn't have to strength to even say anything. He very, very slowly managed to get up on an elbow and sit up, his head rolling back and forth as his arms kept him from falling right back down. Cid picked up his jacket and out it on as Cloud was getting ready to get up to his feet.

He groaned and forced his way up further. He stood tottering, holding on to a rock behind him for balance. He tottered a little too far. He gave a sigh and was on his way down to the ground as Cid caught his left side, and Vincent his right.

"Ughhhhhhhhh..." He had no other choice but to let Cid and Vincent wrap an arm around each of their necks. A drop of sweat rolled down off his chin on to the ground.

Cid and Vincent could feel the heat from Cloud's skin. Cid had to comment. "I woulda fixed that air conditioner on the _Highwind_ a lot sooner if we knew he was THIS warm!"

Tifa didn't even hear the comment. She stroked his hot face with a hand and gazed into his exhausted eyes.

Cloud tried to look straight at her as his head bobbed around. "My...weapon...where-"

"Absolutely NO WEAPON for you, hon." Tifa's word was final. No one in the team would dare to even search for it, now. No one wanted to face HER wrath.

"But...my.."

She crossed her arms in front of her chest in defiance. "If you can walk over and get it, you may have it."

Cloud winced at the thought. Well, it did make sense. There would be no way he can even pick it up, now. He knew he was finished with it after he fought the dragon, but he would never admit it, as he didn't want to be a pain. They would just have to leave the Ultima sword here until he can get himself healed.

"Let's move out," said Cid in a somewhat more mellow voice than all of his previous orders. He was extremely worried himself about the "tough kid" that hung around his arms, not only for balance, but for dear life, too.

Lane, Ridgeson, and Myer, in that order, descended the long narrow hallway. Lane shivered.

"(^*% narrow hallway...makes my claustrophobia kick in..." He turned his head around to the short, salt-and-pepper haired scientist behind him. "I STILL think we shoulda popped 'im as soon as he went in!"

"You want their bodies exposed in broad daylight and leave a 'mess'?"

"So? Blonde Boy was a mess in the lab!"

"That was a _small_, manageable mess. This will be a large, _un_manageable mess."

"Whatever."

They quietly pressed forward from then on. The hallway widened, much to Lane's relief, into a small chamber with an even wider opening on the other end. He wiped the nervous sweat from his face, avoiding ripping off his nosecast by doing so.

Myer noticed something blue in among the dusty rocks. Myer was always one to notice detail. "What's that?" he asked himself out loud as he cocked his head over to the object.

The three of them went over to the mysterious object and surrounded it, while the rest of the henchmen waited for the verdict at the end of the narrow hallway, as they were just coming into the chamber.

"Lookit! Its cool!" Lane picked up a huge, royal-blue blade from the ground. It had some kind of maroon 'stuff' on it from the point to the hilt.

Lane flicked his beady eyes toward the scientist. "Blonde Boy's sword! From the looks of it, he ain't so good." He set it back behind his shoulder ready for a practice swing. "Betcha I can wield this baby better than DayGlow ever could!" He was just ready to bring it around, when the other two saw what looked like blue lightning shoot out of the blade and wrap itself around Lane's hands. Lane yelped from the huge shock and the weapon dropped from his hands and CLUNKED to the ground. Little gold sparks shot out from the weapon as it bit into the rocks on the floor.

Lane wiped his hands on his rd jacket. He clicked his tongue. "It don't like me."

Ridgeson rolled his eyes. "Shame," was all he said in his caustic sarcasm. "Now that we know the young man is definitely near, and without a weapon, let's get going again."


	25. Chapter 25

XXV.

Cid and Vincent carried Cloud into the next room. It seems they needed to search for exactly where Holy was in this room, as it was as high and wide as a cathedral. Plus, there was a huge, river-like stream of pure Mako that flowed at the bottom of a vast canyon-like orifice in the ground a couple yards away. The way down to the bottom of the Mako river was only by descending sheer walls, the team saw, as they brought Cloud to the edge of the cliff under Cloud's direction.

Cloud seemed to stare at a point in the air above the canyon constantly from the moment they entered the huge chamber. They figured that across the cliff was where Holy rested, and the horrified look on his face was from the size of the canyon they had to cross. They set him down to lean on a rock projecting from the edge of the cliff. The river of Mako roared far below them, casting a green light onto the walls of the canyon.

"So...where do we go now, butt?" Cid asked as he scratced his head. "Over the canyon? Down? Left? Right?"

Cloud still stared at one point in the air. "No..." He slowly shook his head, still with his eyes toward the point.

"Then, uh, where to now?"

"Nowhere...it...should be...right..._there_..."

"Ain't nuthin' _there_! What 'chu talkin' about?" Barret snapped.

Cloud shook his head again in disbelief. It was supposed to be right _there_. Holy was supposed to be there. He knew it...but maybe he was mistaken? No...it was _right there!_

"No...I'm...looking right...at it..but..why..."

Cloud's tolerance for his condition evaporated. He felt Holy's presence so strongly, but it wasn't there...

He gave up trying to control himself from crying out from his condition. He held himself and just let loose what he was holding in all this time. Tifa immediately fell to his side and stroked his hair. That was about all she could do. She turned with helpless eyes back to the rest of the gentlemen. They shook their heads.

Tifa tried to shush Cloud...and he quieted down, but his groans and moans went right through her heart. "We'll find Holy..." It was obvious he couldn't hear her. "We'll...we'll find it for you if you say it's here...we _will_, Cloud..."

Barret stood still as a statue suddenly. His dark eyes rolled around in his head as he thought his ears picked up something he didn't like. "Whassat?"

Footsteps from the next room...then lots of henchmen pouring from the opening in the wall. Carrying Mako lasers.

Cid threw up his hands again. "THAT'S all we NEED now!" He put his fist up with resolve. "Let's get rid-a these thugs real fast...we gotta real sick kid to worry about!"

Tifa, after hearing Cid's battle cry, turned to Cloud again. He was throwing his head back from the pain, groaning and holding himself. She was about to cry. "Stay here, Cloud..."

A ridiculous thing to say to him, she knew, but it made her feel better to say it.

"Stay here...they won't see you here...we can do this, Cloud..." Her voice finally failed to stay steady. "Hang on...I love you!"

She moved his golden blonde hair aside, pecked Cloud's hot forehead, and ran out to fight with Cid, Vincent, Barret, and Triniman.


	26. Chapter 26

XXVI.

Cid led the rest of the team to the center of the room. Each member of the team had at least one laser pointed at them. Cid stopped in front of them. Tifa, Barret, Vincent, and Triniman also stopped behind him.

"Where's the kid?" said the scruffy guy that held a laser to Cid.

Cid put his hand up to his cigarette. He took a long draw before he answered. "He ain't here."

"WHERE"S THE KID?" His laser was cocked and ready.

"You're kinda pushy. I don't like pushy people." He took the cigarette from his mouth as he cooly puffed out the bluish smoke from his mouth. "In fact, you need ta have a ciggy ta calm your nerves. Here."

He flicked the cigarette at the guy's hand. It landed right on his finger. When the guy yelled in pain from the burn, Cid used the opening to grab the guy's laser and pull it out of his hand.

Barret and Vincent took out their respective weapns and started to shoot the lasers out of each man's hand with pinpoint accuracy.

When each man realized their laser was gone, they ran toward the team to begin some hand-to-hand.

There turned out to be at least two thugs for each member of the team to try and handle, but the skill of the team's fighting quickly overshadowed any attempt the thugs made. The team instinctively tried to stay away from where Cloud lay as to not reveal his whereabouts to the henchmen. They did a pretty good job of that, too.

Lane, Ridgeson, and Myer backed off when the fray began as to not involve themselves as they tried to figure out how to use the dark-haired girl to draw Cloud out and eliminate him.

Lane had an idea.

"Myer, get that thing you got ready."

Myer hated it, but he placed his eight-barbed mythril-tipped pike into his weapon. He cocked the trigger and made himself ready while Lane continued to watch Tifa for an opening to implement his plan.

Tifa was definitely handling her own. Even when she was attacked by two big guys at once, her flying feet and fists handled the situation very well. She was grateful for everything that Zangan had taught her-not only so she could have an excuse to follow Cloud everywhere he went, as she thought her skills would come in useful for the AVALANCHE team, but for the practcal use of simple self-defense.

She gave one thug coming straight at her a good smack to the jaw, which stunned him. She did a backflip in the air and annihilated the guy coming at her back with her feet.

In the far corner, Lane bumped Ridegon's thin arm with an elbow.

"She's pretty hot, y'know," he whispered.

Tifa managed well, until another guy stood still in front of her. He just didn't attack or anything. She was so shocked by the nothing that he did she just stood there herself.

He raised a hand and made a funny motion with his hand in her face. She realized too late that he put a mild sleep spell on her. It didn't actually put her to sleep, but it made her woozy enough to be held easily by two guys, one on either of her arms.

They dragged the half-conscious Tifa over to a rock wall. She stood knock-kneed against the rock with her eyes turning inwards and her head bobbing around. The big thugs held her fast.

Lane paraded himself out to where she stood. Cid and Barret each tried to make a dive toward Lane to try and get Tifa out of her situation, but more men seemed to pur in from the opening to the next chamber. They were stopped quickly by their own fighting they had to do.

Lane got ready for a speech. He walked around the room a short distance away from Tifa, so that wherever Cloud was, he would hear.

"STRIFE! We got yer girl. She's really a babe, Strife, so if ya don't want to see her with a pike through her heart show yer sorry butt now!"

In the corner, Myer shuddered.

In the opposite end of the room, behid the rock where he collapsed, Cloud could now sort of hear what was going on. He perked his ears up and tried to ignore the pain racing through him the instant he understood Tifa was in danger.

"You got ten seconds, Strife! I'll count backwards!" He yelled aside to the marksman. "Myer, get that pike ready! Ten!...Nine!...Eight!"

Cloud tried to get up. He couldn't even move his legs. He gasped for air as he steeled himself.

"Seven! Six!"

Tifa was in danger! And he couldn't get up...just couldn't..

"Five!"

Cloud heard the trademark sound of a mythril crossbow being cocked...had to force himself...

"Four! Three! Jeez, Strife, you really DO want this chick to die!"

He forced himself up so he can peek up from the rock. Sue enough, there was Tifa. It looked like she was coming out of some kind of sleep spell.

"TWO!"

Cloud felt a rush of energy he hadn't in weeks. He cried out from the effort of getting to his feet, and ran over towards Tifa.

"ONE!"

He heard the last count as he threw himself in front of her. He could hear Tifa whimpering behind him... She was slowly coming out of the trance she ws placed in. Lane said nothing. He just grinned.

He groaned in front of Tifa from the race he had run. He gave Lane a look that would kill as he and Lane engaged in a staredown.

"Stop...this..." Talking was the only thing Cloud could do to keep from collapsing again.

"Yer chick's mine."

"...Kill me first..."

"OK!" Lane stepped to the side and snapped his fingers. "Fire!"

Myer stepped forward. Cloud saw the size of the pike held in the weapon he beared. He heared the trigger release.

The pike flew towards Cloud. He could almost see the heat trail in back of it as it flew toward him. All he could remember was the promise...he had a promise to keep...

And then he felt it hit him. He fell to his hands and knees in front of Tifa.

Tifa's head bobbed around a little less. Her eyes were normal now that the spell wore off enough for her to be aware of her surroundings. "Wha...wh...Cloud? Oh, my God! Cloud! My Cloud! What did you do?"

Lane made a motion to the guys to let Tifa's arms go. She dropped next to Cloud, but Cloud wouldn't let her see what happened.

Lane squatted next to Tifa.

"How about comin' home with me?" He said in his greasiest tone as he touched Tifa's cheek.

"AAAAAAGH!" She was so disgusted. She had to get him away. No telling what he would do to her or the rest of the team. She took one hand and ripped off the nosecast off Lane's face. She took the other and made a fist. She crossed her fist over and placed it in Brenner's nose.

Lane's nose was smashed for the second time. However, as Tifa was in perfect health, she pushed it in to his face with her fist so well he was knocked back. He fell unconscious to the ground from Tifa's blow.

Three guys grabbed hold of Lane's red jacket and pulled him to another outcrop of rocks a short distance away and left him there. He was hidden behind the rocks as the guys ran back out towards the fighting.

Tifa knew something terrible happened. She wanted to see what happened to Cloud, crying uncontrollably.

"Cloud? God, Cloud! Please let me see! What did they do to you?"

He just kept turning away.

She held his shoulders as she wiped the hot tears from her eyes. "Cloud Strife, don't you DARE turn away from me now!" She ran her fingers through his hair as she pleaded. "PLEASE let me see! Please..."

She shuffled over on her hands and knees to his front. This time he didn't turn away. She met his glowing eyes. She looked down at his neck, then his chest-into which the pike was buried. Right through the heart. A true marksman's shot.

She put a hand to her face, then touched the pike. When she felt the wood of pike, she knew it was over. She felt Cloud's warm blood on her fingertips.

_Be strong, Tifa..._ she heard in her head.

"Oh, God..." She managed to collect herself. "Here, Cloud. Here." She shuffled again to his back and put an arm around Cloud's waist. She leaned against the rock wall in back of her and gently pulled Cloud toward herself. Cloud complied. She put a hand on his crown of golden hair and pulled his head onto her shoulder. Cloud couldn't say a word. He lay on her shoulder wincing, waiting to be taken by the pike. She stroked his head and buried her face in his gold hair as he lay dying in her arms.


	27. Chapter 27

XXVII.

"Sir, we're outclassed here. They're too strong for us," one of the gangmembers said as he emerged from the fighting going on around him.

"Then we need to pack it up and leave. We've accomplished our prime directive. The young man is as good as dead. Call everyone out." Ridgeson was absorbing that calm, satisfied feeling of doing his day's work.

The henchman put two fingers to his teeth and gave a loud whistle through them. Some cocked their heads to see what the signal was for, but others immediately ran for the exit, as they were relieved that it was time to go. It was a tough struggle for both sides.

They all ran out to where they came from, out past the smaller chamber, and started running up the narrow, winding hallway.

Vincent , too, found himself breathing a sigh of relief watching the men go. However, neither Cid nor Barret was going to let them go so easily.

"Hey, you little punks! Get yo' asses back here so I can pulverize 'um a lil' more!" he yelled as the guys who had been fighting him heard the whistle and took off. He then noticed someone sitting on the ground holding someone else. He recognized the figures in the distance as Tifa and Cloud, but there seemed to be something very wrong.

"Yo, Barret! You with me ta toast 'em, or what?" Cid yelled over to Barret as he found him staring at the two.

"Hold up a sec, man...Tifa and the kid are down...I'll go see what's up.."

"^#%(! I'm not ready ta let these punks leave! I'm goin' after 'em! Yo, Vince, ya with me?"

"Yes..."

"You too, Doc?"

"Absolutely!" Triniman thought he didn't do too badly himself during the fight, considering it's been so many years since he's been involved in even a little scuffle. He started to run behind Vincent, the both of them following Cid out into the smaller chamber, trying to pursue the enemy.

Barret sprinted as fast as his huge frame could carry him towards the two sitting near the rock wall. He bent down to see only Tifa's hair layered around Cloud's face.

"Hey, girl...wha...whassup?"

Then he saw...

"..._God...damn!_" was all he could whisper out.

Tifa slowly picked up her head. Cloud turned his red-rimmed eyes to Barret. The pike was buried deep inside his chest, and the blood was everywhere. It ran down in a little trickle from the side of his mouth as he clenched his teeth.

Barret was even more furious at the henchmen, now. He slapped Cloud's right hand into his, then clasped the boy's limp thumb in his big left hand. He shook it as he talked, hoping Cloud would get furious along with him and...survive.

"C'mon, kid! You ain't ABOUT to check out on us now, are ya? What about the train? Can't get offa this train! We won't let you! Stay on!"

The inner ends of Cloud's eyebrows lifted in pain. His teeth clenched tighter. He shook his head no, then let his head drop back onto Tifa's shoulder and nestled it closer to her neck.

"_Damn..._" He let Cloud's limp hand drop to the side again, then straightened and fixed his gaze on the boy with new resolve.

"We...we're gonna git these punks for you! I'll take 'em down one by one if I have to!" Barret ran out of the chamber to catch up to Cid, Triniman, and Vincent.


	28. Chapter 28

XXVIII.

The gang members were in too much of a hurry to notice the rainbow of light emanating from Cloud's sword as they ran past the glowing mass of energy. Back in the small chamber, as they continued to round the turns of the rocky hall, the mass rose from where it rested above the sword and shot into the hallway. It didn't take long before the men heard a _swoosh_ coming from somewhere behind them. They looked up in confusion to find the origin of the sound, as they were way too deep in the planet's center to be affected by any wind.

They stumbled up a sharp turn in the hallway-and a glowing, rainbow light passed them right out. As they ran further, they had to stop dead in their tracks, as a most unexpected thing was blocking their progress. It was a young, very petite girl. A really pretty one, at that, too.

Everything about her was tinted slightly green, and her face exuded a warm green glow. The tiara she wore on the top of her head sparkled with little green lights. Her hair would have been auburn, if it weren't for the green altering it's color, but her eyes must have been naturally greenish, as they didn't seem to be colored unusually. She had litte rosebud lips, turned up in the most mischievious grin. She was dressed in a beautiful, flowing gown of green material, featuring the same little glimpses of light her tiara gave off as the dress moved in the nonexistent wind around her.

She let the gang absorb her presence for a few moments before she even made a sound.

"Mmmmmm_HM_," she purred to herself as she lifted her eyebrows.

"Hey, honey! Ya gonna let us pass or _what?_" the lead henchman's gruff voice scratched out.

She drew back as if she was terribly, terribly worried. She playfully wrung her hands together.

"I..._really_ don't think I can do that..."

"What the #$%^'s she doin' here?" the henchman said to Ridgeson. "I think if she doesn't move, we should take 'er!"

Cid, Vincent and Barret came up running behind the gang, ready to do some serious hurting. But they stopped dead when they saw the girl.

"Aeris?"

"Aeris!"

"Aeris!" Cid, Vincent, and Barret chimed in together.

Aeris clasped her hands behind her back, brought her chin out, and smiled, as she always used to do, especially when Cloud was around.

"Oh, hi again, boys. Listen...you let me handle this, and we'll chat later. Alright?"

"But...Aeris?" Cid questioned her ability to handle this mob herself.

She took a hand from behind her back for a moment only to toss her fingers confidently at Cid once or twice.

"Oh, pshaw! You run along back there. I'll be fine. Go along and run, now!"

Maybe she was...right somehow. "Uh, OK..."

"See ya in a few."

The trio turned back down the hallway. Barret was trying to butt his way to the lead out of desperation for some reason.

"The kid...he's.."

"Cloud?"

"Yeah, man...he's...he's real bad..."

Cid really started to worry, as Barret usually wasn't concerned about such things. Especially when it invloved Cloud.


	29. Chapter 29

XXIX.

Aeris returned her eyes to the henchmen.

"Y'know, she's not movin'..." he whispered to Ridgeson. "...then let's... GET 'ER!"

The men all heard the signal and lunged for Aeris.

And hit a seemingly brick wall of...air? All at one time. Hard. Except for Ridgeson, who quickly sought to analyze the situation, and the mysterious apparition of the girl.

"Ooooh," the girl said. "That must have smarted. Well, I guess this will give you the opportunity for us to discuss about certain..." her gaze fell on Ridgeson. "..._experiments_ I know about?"

"You will make quite an interesting study yourself, I assume," he observed as his comrades recovered from the shock.

She giggled girlishly. "Well, you see, there would be a slight problem should that ever happen. I happen to be the official licensed spokesperson for the planet, and I can say that we really don't appreciate the use of the planet's lifeblood for the selfish purposes of power gain. Sound familiar?"

"I happen to be searching for knowledge, as any other researcher."

"And this comes to the point of lynching and murder?"

"The comforts that we have today are brought by similar sacrifices."

"You aren't doing much sacrificing yourself, I see. It seems to actually be everyone else you come in contact with."

A dumb look was his only defense.

Aeris snapped her fingers. Everyone floated in the air, seemingly weightless, supported by nothing.

Her tone all of a sudden took a deadly seriousness. "...and like I said, the planet itself is aching because of your actions. We will not tolerate it any longer. We give the power of the Ancients, and it is being consistantly misused. If I ever know of any more actions against the blood of this planet by you, I will take you to the highest cliff..." they all rose a foot or two more in the air... "...and I will DROP you to the bottom." They plopped to the ground at the word. Each man could count the stars circling around his neighbor's head.

Suddenly, her fingers sparked with a rainbow light. She curled them a little as she looked at them reflecting that her power was at its peak.

"Aaaah...there it is."

She brought up her hands and spread her fingers. A huge whirlwind entered the chamber and literally vacuumed the men out. They rose all the way up the crater's main hole and out to ground zero, helplessly struggling as they saw the grass and trees under them get smaller. They felt themselves fall, and each man PLUNKED to the ground. They were all so terrified they ran straight for their own airship.

Aeris brushed herself off, straightened her hair a bit, and clasped her hands behind her back again as she walked herself towards the small chamber.


	30. Chapter 30

XXX.

Cid, Vincent, and Barret ran back through the hall to the small chamber, not sure they wanted to leave Aeris behind like that. But since they didn't even know where she came from, maybe she knew something they didn't. They ran out of the small chamber into the large, cathedral-like chamber after it, where Tifa and Cloud remained.

When the three of them saw Cloud's condition, they came in close, without a word. They didn't know whether he was almost in tears from the pike, or that he was dying on Tifa.

He knew there was no way to bring him back. All the life-restoring items and Materia they had were stolen. All the potions they had were used up battling Sephiroth. Now that the Shinra wasn't there to manufacture any kind of potion anymore, practically all the stores had run out of it. There was just no way, this time.

Tifa cuddled Cloud as best she could. All of them were silent except for little gasping sounds escaping from Cloud's throat, and Tifa sniffing in her tears.

He laid his head closer to her neck on her shoulder...and then she felt his spirit leave.

It was only then she started to sob, her arms clutched around him, and her dark hair hiding her face as she buried it in his gold hair again.

Cid and the rest of the gentlemen exchanged glances. Very, very sad glances.

They let her weep for a minute, then Cid rose. He kneeled to Cloud's side and offered to place him on the ground. Only then did Tifa realize they were all there with her.

She wiped the tears from her eyes as she let Cid rest Cloud's shoulders on the ground. Immediately the blood ran up his shoulder and snaked around his neck His body was just a sickly, greenish shell compared to what it looked like on the strong young man they knew just a few weeks ago. The pike in his chest stuck out cruelly as Tifa rested her eyes on each man individually.

Her face darkened into the most furious expression the team had ever seen.

"My mama...then my papa...my village...and now my fiancee... WHEN WILL IT STOP! WHEN!" She cupped her face in her hands and helplessly cried in them. "What did I do? Where can I go now? Everything...taken away! Everything..."

Cid laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

She picked up her head and angrily scanned everyone. "Who's next? YOUR science assistant? YOUR daughter? YOUR family?" as her hot eyes fell on Cid, Barret, and Triniman in turn.

As she was ranting and raving, the men noticed something greenish coming out of the hallway. Aeris had her hands behind her back as she walked with an air of regalty coming out of the entrance to the smaller chamber.

Triniman didn't have a clue who the girl was, so he kept himself quiet. He figured he would eventually know, in due time.

Cid, Barret, and Vincent had new hope that maybe Aeris could help Cloud, even now.

Tifa, on the other hand, wasn't so thrilled. She gave a cold stare at Aeris, and posessively grasped one of Cloud's hands on both of her own in her own. She brought it up to her face.

Aeris's eyes flicked from Tifa, down to Cloud. His eyes were trimmed with red, his skin was an awful pale green, and the sweat covered him. The trails of blood from his mouth and chest were a little longer now, and that expression of agony was still on his young face.

Aeris's own eyebrows lifted in their centers when she saw him. Her mouth was in the sweetest pout. She kneeled down next to him and stroked his wet hair a little, not to Tifa's amusement. Aeris clicked her toungue three times and shook her head.

She cocked her head a little. "He's had _such_ a bad day..." her eyes flicked quickly back at Tifa for a moment. "...hasn't he?"

Tifa opened her mouth and her eyes wide in shock. The only thing that stopped her from hitting Aeris was the fact that she'd have to let go of Cloud's hand to do it.

Barret figured he should say something before things got ugly. "Aeris...can you?"

"Well, of course!" She crossed her arms in front of her chest and gave a pouty smile. "You _aren't_ forgetting who I am, are you?"

"You're...an Ancient?"

"Ancient certified, Cetra guaranteed! Ha, ha!"

Tifa just bared her teeth.

"Well, Aeris...can you?"

"Of course I can..." She took a grasp of the pike in Cloud's chest. She closed her eyes and both her hand and the pike glowed white. She pulled up on it, and the team thought the rest of his skin and bones would come out with it. But it hardly made a sound. It came right out as if Cloud's body wasn't even there.

Aeris looked at the large, eight-barbed bloody pike. It was almost as large around as her thumb.

"Ugh. Yuck. I hate these things. You'd think the would use something a little less messy once in a while!" She tossed the pike on the ground next to her.

Another tear or two fell from Tifa's eyes. She hissed at Aeris. "Doesn't make a difference when he's-"

"-you needed Holy here, right?"

"Uh, yeah..." Barret confirmed.

"And I am a Cetra, right?"

"Uh, yeah..."

Aeris closed her eyes again and folded her hands. After a few seconds, she opened them. "Done. We will have to wait a few seconds until Holy makes its way over here."

"Aeris...how exactly are you here with us, again?" asked Vincent.

"The white materia in Cloud's sword is my own summon spell. The planet has granted me an unbelieveably vast amount for power, as it recognized that I was the last Cetra to survive, and also that I gave my life for the good of the planet. I'm sure you know that the Planet chooses who to keep and who to toss away, right?"

"Yes."

"The planet has decided to use me as a guardian in appreciation, and, as I said has granted me vast powers. I can collapse the entire inner core of the planet in the blink of an eye. The Planet knows my power can be easily abused, so my materia can't be willingly used. I'm sure Cloud tried to use it and it didn't work."

"Yes, in fact he did."

"My materia could only be activated by a deathblow or a fatal injury. The moment Cloud was shot with the pike, my materia felt the weakness in Cloud through his sword, and here I am. I certainly didn't know that white materia was good for anything, and my mother didn't, either. But I think she had an intuition when she gave me hers. This seems to be the only other white materia on the planet.

"My materia is actually made of Holy, and not compressed Lifestream. That's another reason it acted and felt different from anything else."

She focused her eyes suddenly in front of her, as if she recognized something familiar was there. "Ah, look. Holy is here."

"Where?" Barret asked for the four of them.

"Come closer..." she held out her hand palm-up as if holding something.

They did so. Thay saw what looked like a tiny blue light.

"Holy...such a powerful force...and no larger than a grain of sand!" Vincent pondered.

"No wonder we couldn't see it!" said Barret.

"Yes. This is Holy's true size. What you saw fight Meteor was something that Holy had to do to save the planet. Holy is a very gentle, shy entity, and it really doesn't like exposing itself. That's why the only ones who were able to summon it were the Cetra."

"Why was Cloud poisoned by the Lifestream? I thought the Lifestream was a good thing."

Aeris gave a genuinely sad look. She shook her head. "The Lifestream desires more than anything to roam free in the planet. It wasn't meant to be penned up in the shell of a human body. It couldn't roam free, so it was destroying him to try to get out of its confinement."

In response to Tifa's impatient glare, Aeris finally closed her eyes as she asked Holy to revive Cloud.

Holy moved off from above where it rested on her palm and floated down to Cloud as he lay there. Holy touched his bloody chest, and there was a warm glow of light. Holy then floated over to his head and rested on his forehead. There was another warm glow of white light, and a greenish mist seemed to rise from Cloud's forehead into Holy. Cloud parted his lips and breathed in a long, deep breath as his lungs filled for the first time since his spirit left. Tifa watched his chest rise all the way up and then fall as he exhaled.

"Cloud! Cloud!" Tifa whispered as she strokes his hair on both sides of his head at once. She examined his face. It wasn't greenish anymore. In fact, it was back to the healthy tan it always was. "Can you hear me?" He groaned a little and stirred. Then he fell still again.

"Actually, I would leave him be for a while. He's been through so much, it'll be a few hours before he's strong enough to awaken."

Holy then did something very strange. It lifted from Cloud's forehead, and circled around Tifa, like a little satellite planet. It touched her forehead, then stopped right in front of her nose. She looked at it with crossed eyes.

It then went under her ear. Tifa had to giggle. "That tickles!"

"Holy likes you. That's quite unusual." Aeris noted.

The little speck of dust lighted on her meteorite engagement ring. There was a white glow between the ring and Holy. Tifa didn't notice anything different about the ring, but Holy must have done something to it.

Aeris gave a stiff, sniffly laugh. "Holy says to keep an eye on that ring in the future. You'll never have to guess how he is when he's far away ever again."

"Far away?"

Aeris bounced up to her feet again. "WELL! Now that _that's_ taken care of, there are a few other things I need to cover before I go." A cute little green notebook materialized in her left hand, and a green pencil in her right.

Tifa wasn't concerned. She took out a towel from the supply pack and started to clean Cloud off.

"First of all, Barret, keep an eye on that Marlene! She's got the same headstrong attitude as you. Vincent, get ready to serve in public office. Um...let's see..." She paged through the book, and made little marks in it with the pen as she talked. "Cid, you'll be flying high with your plans soon. Bill, you'll hear the whole story someday. Cloud...I believe this-"

The team saw Cloud's sword stream out of the hall and plant itself firmly in the ground close to him with a _crack_. Little sparks shot out of the ground as the sword sunk in.

"-is his. Am I forgetting something? Ah yes...Miss Yuffie..."

"Yeah! She was the little #$% that had our stuff stolen! She's got the most powerful #$%* materia on the planet in her hands right now!" Cid fumed.

Aeris giggled again. "Oh, don't worry about _her_. That's MORE than taken care of. The time for materia use on this planet is over. The planet doesn't want all of that powerful materia in hands that don't know how to use it. I'm sure she'll find a surprise when she needs it."

"MMmmmm," she hummed as she closed her eyes. "He's getting stronger. It is almost time for me to leave." She started to walk back toward the cliff.

"Oh...and...Tifa?," she spoke snidely over her shoulder.

Tifa looked up from cleaning the blood off Cloud's face and cutting the bandage around his chest.

"Congratulations...he's a _great_ kisser."

"WHAT!"

Aeris continued on without an explanation and disappeared above the cliff.


	31. Chapter 31

XXXI.

Tifa kept herself busy by examining her thoughts for a while, standing at the edge of the cliff, until Cloud awakened. The other guys were sure he would be fine, so they hit the hay hours earlier. When Barret found her still awake, he insisted that she get some sleep herself, but she refused. She was exhausted from the emotional rollercoaster of the past few weeks, but she would still stay awake until she saw Cloud was up and moving with her own eyes.

On the other end of the chamber, Cloud stirred without a sound. He slowly opened his eyes. And realized that he felt the best that he had since a few weeks ago. Nothing burned, nothing hurt, and he was wide awake...how?

Where was she?

He looked over at the edge of the cliff. There she was. She looked like she she was in deep thought. He didn't know what for.

He felt like yelling her name and throwing his arms around her, but when he saw the sleeping team near him, he figured there was a better was of doing that.

He silently got up and started padding over to where Tifa stood. She was in such deep thought she never noticed or heard his approach. When he got within arm's reach, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pressed into her back. He covered her eyes with a hand and put his mouth close to her ear.

"_Guess who!_"

Tifa was startled by the appearance of an arm around her. But when she realized who held her like that before, and who's voice it was, her jaw dropped almost to the ground. She spun around as his arm held her.

"CLOUD!" she squealed through tears of relief as she threw her arms around his chest and buried her face in his shoulder, not realizing how loud she was squealing. "CLOUD, YOU WERE GONE! YOU'RE BACK! YOU'RE..."

"Shhhhhhhh!" he hushed her in a gentle whisper. "Shhhh. The rest of the guys are asleep. You know how Barret gets when we wake him up early..."

She looked deeply into his glowing eyes, her red-rimmed eyes topping a beautiful smile. They kissed deeply, stopping only to catch their breaths once in a while, and to speak a couple words.

"Tifa...how...how am I here?"

"Let's not talk about it...let's just..." she continued to kiss him. "Right now, Cloud...let's right now...please?"

He broke away suddenly, but still held her close. "We can't do _that_ here! Let's wait until later...until the time is right."

"Wait? You didn't wait in the Chocobo bay in the _Highwind_a few days ago!"

"Well...we were a little more..._alone_?" he said as he thumbed back toward the sleeping men. He then smiled her mischeviously. "Besides...all I wanted was a little kiss!"

"Cloud! The words 'that was a bummer' come to my mind now for some reason!"

"Well, yeah. But really, let's not right now. I'd really love to, too, but what if we're in the middle of it and a dragon comes along, or something? Let's wait." He kissed her lightly again and whispered. "I don't want anything to spoil it."

"Well...okay...we've both waited so long..."

They both started as they heard scuffling in the corner across the room from them.

Cloud only had to see the red.

He turned quickly back to Tifa. "Wait here a sec."

He ran after the red spot. On the way, he made sure he yanked his sword up from the ground. Tifa had an inkling at what he was about to do, so she ran after him.


	32. Chapter 32

XXXII.

He threw the blade on his back as he ran toward the red. He caught up to Brenner and made a dive for his feet just as they were about to enter the narrow hallway. He latched on and they both fell to the ground hard. Cloud was able to get up faster, and wheeled himself around to block any of Brenner's further prgress.

Brenner was recovering from the tackle, and groaned a little as he looked up from where he lay on the ground. He was staring right at the very sharp point of the Utima sword, and the sword scrutinized him with cold regard right between the eyes.

He dared to look past the point at Cloud Strife's furious eyes and bared teeth as he shrunk back, then put a hand over his bloody nose and chin. His nose stung like hell, but he dealt with the jolts of pain that shot through as he slid himself on is rear backwards, trying in vain to get away from the sharp point.

Cloud followed every move as Brenner slid himself backward with his eyes nailed on Brenner's. This time he was sucking in the air hard from sheer fury and not from fatigue or sickness. His voice was a hissed whisper, as sharp and cutting as his weapon.

"_For SIX DAYS I was held at the brink of DEATH by YOU!_"

Brenner was sure Cloud was going to snap. He could see Cloud's arm and chest muscles flex as he held the blade steady.

"_Even after...I BEGGED...and PLEADED for you to stop, YOU continued to torture me!_"

Brenner slid himself so far back as Cloud was talking he found himself against a rock. He shrunk back against the rock, trying desperately to find the right timing to make a move towards the exit.

Tifa didn't want to even get near Cloud at this point. She couldn't see Brenner bacause of where she stood, but she hear the conversation. It was the first time she was truly terrified at what he might do, even though she's had to stop him from snapping before.

Behind the rocks, Brenner made a quick move to his left to try and split. Cloud let out a loud cry and quickly brought the blade up, then down. It blew apart the rocks with little yellow sparks and a loud CRACK, and it almost hacked Brenner's aching nose off his face on the way down. Brenner saw nothing but blade before his eyes and slowly returned his shoulders to leaning against the rock, cowering.

Cloud cocked his head with his eyes fixed on Brenner's, his chest rising and falling in fury. He slowly moved the point from Brenner's brow to the base of his neck. His eyes narrowed.

"_My fiancee is right now the only thing that stops me from saying that it would have been more MERCIFUL to kill me. You have caused me so much pain in the past month. But more importantly, YOU have caused my fiancee so much worry there's no reason why I shouldn't let you feel some of your own!"_ His eyes closed even narrower as he whispered. "_Give me ONE REASON I shouldn't sever your miserable head from your neck right now!"_

She was terrified, but she knew she HAD to do SOMETHING. She ran up to his side, and was expecting him to knock her down to the ground, but he didn't. She laid a hand on his back and brought her mouth close to his ear and whispered.

"_Because you're not like Sephiroth-_" she turned her head toward the pitiful, cowering Brenner. "_-or like him._"

Upon hearing Tifa's words, Cloud's eyes opened wide, and his mouth relaxed. Brenner saw the blade rise and fall in the air for an instant, as if Cloud finally realized what he was doing. He saw the point of the sword finally drop to the ground, and made good on his opportunity to run. He got up and scrambled to the exit, despite his bloody and broken nose.

Cloud stood there, breathing through his teeth in silence and shame as Tifa wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his arm.

"Sephiroth...I'm..turning into Sephiroth..."

Her head popped up. "Cloud, I didn't say-"

"-turning into-"

He looked up for the first time since he tackled Brenner. He drew back in horror as the rest of the team stood silently staring at the output of sheer fury that he had just let loose. The sword hitting the rock must have awakened them.

He felt the eyes of everyone in the chamber him. He let the weapon fall out of his hand and it gave a soft metallic clang as it hit the ground. He turned away from Tifa and ran for the exit himself.

She turned toward the team and spread her hands. They responded by shrugging their shoulders. She ran after him.

She caught up to him in the hallway. "Stop! Please stop!" She passed him out in the hall as she rounded a turn faster than he did. She spun around and caught his shoulders with her hands. She looked into his shame-filled face, trying to make contact with his eyes, but he wouldn't let her. "STOP."

Realizing he would have to bowl her over to continue, but not wanting to do so, he crossed his arms in front of his chest and burned in stony silence as his eyes scoured the floor.

"You weren't listening. I did _not_ say you were turning into Sephiroth. I said you're not _like_ him. Sephiroth would have had his head severed the moment he was caught."

"..."

"I think...I think more happened during those six days than what you told us."

"..."

"Is that right?"

His eyes flicked for the shortest instant into hers. "..."

Mmm-hmmm. That usually was a Strifeism for 'yes'. She saw it in that spilt second glance.

"So...tell me?"

He stirred uncomfortably. "..."

"You can tell me." She rubbed her hands up and down his arms as she pressed closer and looked into his averted face. "C'mon...?"

He shyly turned his head towards her-and then his eyes finally joined hers. That was all she needed.

"Come here and sit." She gently led him over to a level surface. She curled her legs underneath herself and then tugged him down with her. Once down, he defiantly crossed his arms again and put one ankle over the other as he sat.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

He didn't speak at first. But then, he didn't get up and leave, either.

He flicked his eyes from one part of the hall to another, that burning look back in his eyes. His lips pulled back to reveal his teeth as he fumed.

"He's absolutely _insane_. I should have known he was up to no good when he started giving me a hard time again in Midgar. I was _stupid_ for not thinking."

Tifa listened to the obvious venom in his voice. "For all I knew, they could've dragged me there by the hair..."

He finally told her. Everything.


	33. Chapter 33

XXXIII.

"...and I swear, the only thing that kept me alive those six days was you..that's all I could think of...I was determined to know that you wanted to marry me...I would see to it that I came home to you.. I swear."

Tifa just sighed and pondered the ground when Cloud was finished. "My god."

She threw her arms around his neck, and he stroked the back of her head as he clung.. "You made it. We found you. We can go home. It's all over."

He took her hands and brought her up standing. As she nuzzled his neck, he noticed the dark circles under her eyes.

"You're...you're very tired. You need sleep."

"One more thing I want to do..."

She drew him into yet another deep kiss. It sent a hot flash through him.

She brought her hands up and started running her fingers through his mane of hair. He was again tempted to give in a little too early...

And then she broke the kiss suddenly, unconsciously stuck her toungue out and wrinkled her nose as she rubbed his poor hair into an absolute moppy mess.

"H...HEY!" He made a useless effort to stop her hands from turning his gold spikes into something the Chocobo tried to drag inside the fence in the morning.

Tifa burst into a laugh as Cloud ran his fingers through the flat hair that completely covered his face. "Ha-ha! Ever since we were kids I wanted to do that!"

Cloud tried running his fingers through the long hair that hung like a curtain in front of his face to get it back to its original state, but the more he tried to fix it, he worse it got. His 'do' was ruined.

Tifa took a hand and lifted up the veil of hair in front of his face and peeked in, a broad grin on her face. "You OK in there now?"

Cloud just silently nodded.

She tried to brush the hair to the side herself while inspecting him. "Mmmm! Not bad! Actually, you look even more hot with your hair like that. I just might make you wear it that way!"

He still wasn't quite used to getting compliments like that. He just gave a shy smile as Tifa suggested they get back to everyone.


	34. Chapter 34

XXXIV.

The two of them emerged from the hallway back into where the rest of the team camped. Cid was the first to notice their presence. His eyebrows lifted for a second as he spied Cloud's unruly locks and he looked at his watch.

"Jeez, yous two musta had a great #$% time in there!"

Cloud managed to stammer out a couple words after the dumb look wore off. "But...we...didn't-"

"-We had a BLAST!" Tifa laughed as she played along. "You promised me 'later' again, right, Cloud?" she giggled as she playfully bumped him in the ribs with an elbow.

Cloud was shocked that his fiancee was so...frank. "Tifa! We-"

"THERE HE IS!" the three of them heard Barret say as he stomped into Cloud's face. Cloud crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his heel as he glared at Barret.

"Barret pointed a finger at him with his whole hand. "You gotta be wishin' for us not to git outa this hole, punk. Run off like that when we coulda went home 'long ago!"

Cloud's icy eyes penetrated Barret's dark eyes like steel. He showed teeth as he smacked away Barret's accusing finger with the back of a hand.

"_I don't appreciate pointed fingers at me!_", Cloud hissed.

"Damn, you spikey-ass, you gotta attitude!"

"Cloud, Barret, stop that!"

"Talk about attitude, you brick wall! I oughta..."

"CLOUD, SHUT UP!", Tifa ordered as she stood between them. They each turned away sulking. She paused to catch her breath from the outburst. "Let's...let's just get ready to go home. And no more of that or you're each going up alone!"

Cloud gave Tifa a pleading look with his eyes. He didn't want to be separated from her, ever.

"That INCLUDES you."

He sulked again as his eyes returned to the floor.

"Sorry again, man...I'm...I'm glad you OK," Barret apologized.

Cloud flicked his eyes sidelong at the big man and nodded the tiniest bit.

They all formed a huddle to discuss their next move. Cloud insisted that they stay for a while until Tifa got some sleep. They did so, and each settled down as Cloud leaned his back against a rock. Tifa snuggled into Cloud's big, warm arms and was so exhausted she fell asleep in a matter of moments.


	35. Chapter 35

XXXV.

Cloud cradled Tifa in his arms and kissed her lips and forehead softly once in a while as she slept. He felt such an incredible release when he told her what went on for those six days. Something he really never felt before. Part of the weight was being slowly lifted off his chest. All because of her. She was such an angel to him.

As he was pondering her, Vincent shuffled alongside of him.

"Am I interrupting?" he whispered.

"No...not at all." Cloud whispered back as he stroked Tifa's head.

"It's wonderful to see you healthy again. It also was a treat seeing Aeris in the process."

Cloud's brow frowned in disbelief. "Aeris?"

"Oh...I thought Tifa told you already...You were revived by Aeris. The strange white materia was her own summon spell."

"Oh?"

"Yes..." Vincent told Cloud everything of the process of his revival. Cloud listened without a word, nodding his head once in a while, the inside corners of his blonde eyebrows drawn together.

"I see," said Cloud after Vincent was through explaining. He returned his lips to Tifa's forehead in thought. "She is a guardian of the planet now..."

"Yes. However, she seemed to wear on Tifa's nerves. She needed to make a speedy exit. Aeris mentioned that you were a 'great kisser' to her. I would have no idea why she would say such a thing, considering the extremely wearing situation we had all just been through, especially Tifa."

Cloud did, though. Aeris was after him from the moment she saw him. However, his heart had always been Tifa's. She even "invited" him out on a date, and Aeris knew the only way to make him date her was to shove him out the door to his room in the Ghost Inn at the Gold Saucer late at night. He never touched her. He made sure of that. He was only Tifa's, and that night at the crater with the two of them alone together sort of confirmed his desire to marry her was the right move.

Cloud never knew how Tifa would react to that bit of news, considering how offended she was when she overheard Aeris mention something to Cloud about a date in the Shinra tower a couple months ago. It seemed that the two women got along until that point, but after that they just semed to tolerate each other. Tifa was truly upset when Aeris' earthy life was ended by Sephiroth, but they each knew they could never be friends. Maybe her comment was just her strange, unsettling sense of humor showing through again.

"I...don't know either...but thanks for checking on me. "

"No problem. We'll be on our ascent as soon as she wakens?"

"We should be."

"Good. "

Vincent turned away and rested himself down again by the fire.

Cloud waited for Tifa to stir herself awake in his arms.


	36. Chapter 36

XXXVI.

She tucked her arms between herself and Cloud and sighed.

She must have been up for a while. He suspected that. But after she nudged against his neck a little more he knew she was awake, and she was just pretending to sleep.

He whispered into her ear. "Ready to go?"

She propped open one eye, then shut it again. Her arms came about his chest. "No."

Stubborn, stubborn, stubborn. "Umm...everyone's waiting for us at the hallway..."

She growled and then forced herself to get up off him. They walked hand-in-hand to where the extremely impatient foursome stood either tapping their feet or twiddling their thumbs at the exit of the chamber.

On the way over, Cloud brought up Tifa's left hand that he was holding closer to him. He inspected the ring he bought for her and pointed to it as he spoke. "Can...can I borrow this?"

"Uh...sure."

He slipped it off easily and continued to walk with Tifa toward the grumbling team. Just as Cid and Barret were about to lead everyone out, anxious to get back to Shera and Marlene, Cloud ran in front of them, blocking their progress. He made a loud gulp.

"Guys, can you bear with me a second? I have something I needed to say for a long, long time...and since we're all here now..."

A visible thread of irritation spun through the team.

"$*%, Cloud, let's go the !#$ home.." "Dammit Cloud, we here long enuff! 'Samatter wit you?" were two comments among the grumbling that could be understood.

"No...really..please." His glowing eyes locked on Tifa alone. "I've been waiting honestly about ten years."

"Oh, !#$. Whatever makes ya #$% happy, kid..."

He strided over close to where she stood, nervously fiddling the ring inbetween his fingers. He gazed into her eyes. He had been waiting ten years to say this speech. He'd revised it and revised it on paper over and over until it was perfect. He'd memorized it and tucked it away for that night under the full moon. He wasn't able to say it that terrible night, so for a sense of closure, he needed to say it now, while all his closest comrades were near him. The few people in the world that understood him.

He bended one long leg until the knee touched the ground. He took a light hold of her left hand, his gaze still locked on her eyes. When he did that, Tifa could feel the tears welling up and tried to stifle them.

"All my life I've lived in an oppressive ring of darkness. My own hatred, my own weakness, my own fear and anger. That was what always caused the darkness surrounding me. The darkness was always there ever since I can remember. Always trying to tear me further and further away from any hope of saving my soul. At times I even doubted that I had a soul to save.

"I looked around through my darkened vision and could only see one light burning far in the distance. I didn't understand the light, living in and seeing nothing but pitch black. So I tried to fan it into a larger flame, I tried to will it to glow brighter, I tried everything in my power to make the light mine, including finally leaving the light where it was in hopes that I might return as something greater than what I left with. However, I left with nothing and returned with nothing.

"Because I didn't understand the light, I cursed the darkness over and over. I fought the darkness, avoiding the very light that could have saved my soul from the beginning. I never learned until a few months ago that by being still, the light would come to me.

"You always were my light, Tifa Lockheart. You were the breath of fresh air, the light amidst the darkness, that saved my soul from the pit. And now, I want to ask the light, completely undeserving, to remain with me forever.

"Tifa Lockheart of Nibelheim, my light, my angel, my best friend, will you marry me?" he asked, as breathlessly as if he really didn't know she would say yes.

All knew Cloud would _never_ dare do this in front of everyone had he not been absolutely sure she would accept. But even though she just had the ring on her finger for weeks, he still couldn't help looking terrified, his heart in her hands as he kneeled in front of her.

Tifa wiped away a couple more hot tears with her right hand. She couldn't say anything at first. For all the years she'd known him, she never knew him to be this poetic.

These was a long silence as Tifa was preparing to say yes all over again.

Cloud was gazing into her eyes, waiting for the words that he longed to hear for ten years.

"Hey, Cloud...I thought she already wuz wearin' that thing..." Barret thoughtfully interjected into the tender moment. Tifa chuckled.

Cloud turned his head around towards Barret, who stood in back of him, and shot him a dirty look with icy blue eyes.

"Yeah, kid. !#$, she was wearin' it for weeks already!" the pilot added. Tifa laughed out loud.

Cloud bared his teeth at the dynamic duo. _WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP?_ he mouthed to them over his shoulder.

His eyes returned to Tifa, his face like an angel, she thought, as she giggled.

She wiped another tear from her eyes and looked at each of the men in turn. "So, boys...do you think he's safe?" she said with a lovely playful smile. The words were said in jest, but the tears were very real.

Cloud was stunned. His worried eyes showed that those words weren't what he quite expected.

"Well, I don't know, girl, he's got all that spikey hair 'n all..", "I haven't known him long enough," "It's quite a calculated risk..." "That #$% kid's been worth keepin' a #$%^*% eye on, hun.." were more comments brought forth, accompanied by a lot of head scratching and shoulder shrugging.

Cloud just patiently rolled his eyes to the heavens and awaited Tifa's "answer".

"Well...I think he's safe...so far. I will, Cloud."

His face brightened in that moment so much that Tifa hardly recognized who it was. Only recently had she begun to see him smile occasionally. Usually his brow was drawn in deep thought or anger, but not now. He took hold of her third finger and slid the sparkling ring onto it...right back where it was.

He rose from his knee and Tifa literally attacked him with a deep kiss in front of everyone, throwing him back a little and surrounding his neck with her arms. He encircled her waist with his own arms and just let himself drink it all in until she was finished with him.

One by one each of the men that Tifa _wasn't_ sucking face with looked at his watch and started toward the hallway. Barret heard the little sounds each were making and shook his head. "You two so damn cute. Cute as all #$%^. Cute 'till it makes a man sick." He left for the hallway. Of course, neither of them heard a word.

After a long while, both had to stop and catch their breath.

"So...should we...be on our way up...now?" Cloud asked breathlessly in Tifa's ear, his head buzzing. He lifted his head, expecting everyone to be right there waiting. His eyes opened wide and he looked frantically around as he discovered no one there except for the two of them!

"Uh-oh...I think they...they left us..."

Tifa giggled. "We'll just have to catch up to them, won't we?"

Cloud returned her smile and the two of them began to jet toward the hallway.


	37. Chapter 37

XXXVII.

It had been a very long couple of weeks at the destroyed sector 7 in Midgar. In spite of all the dedicated individuals, there was just not enough manpower to make any real progress on the plate removal. Had the Shinra army still been in one piece, and if President Shinra happened to care, the plate would have definitely been removed by now.

But recently every effort to remove part of the plate, especially since Cloud's team departed, had resulted in terrible arguements over how things needed to be done. One group would say it was better to look for lost relatives first, underneath the collapsed metal, while another would reason that it would be better to remove the heavy metal first. The citizens of Midgar who didn't have the physical strength to work manually on the project were ready for the workers to give everything up due to lack of a knowledgable figurehead in charge.

Bill Triniman himself also did what he could to help the project. After he heard Cloud's team discussing it on their way back from the crater, he decided he could use his math and physics skills to predict the most efficient ways of removing the plate pieces from the ground. But Triniman was no leader; he just couldn't fathom how to get all these people working as a unit. That just wasn't his talent, man of details that he was. Besides, the energy it took to come up with a few calculations left no room to oversee any other aspect of the project.

Triniman shook his head at the mess of scraps that lay before him, holding hisnotepad of unintelligible calculations, a bright yellow pencil stuck behind his ear again. He felt cooler than usual today as the sun was finally hidden behind the clouds. Tempers were also a little better than normal, which meant that only a couple hot words were thrown around rather than the whole thing resulting in fisticuffs. Everyone's clothes, including Triniman's t-shirt, were a sweaty mess from the cleanup, and the dust began to settle as the fresh new shift volunteers arrived.

He knew this bunch coming toward him in the distance. They were once mid-ranking members of he Shinra military. They had each found jobs in the city through connections, good or bad, but still offered to help with the project in their down time once in a while just recently.

"How far'd they get today?" said David, an average-height guy with prominent muscles and short dark hair.

"Not very," answered Triniman. "Whole thing fell apart again over the same issues. Sad."

"Y'know, _that's_ disgusting!," added Jed, a temperamental, strong, tall young man with ebony skin who was one heartbeat away from advancing into SOLDIER when the army collapsed. "Shinra could've had this cleaned up in a month at the _most_, and he sat in his mahogany-lined office smokin' his #%*^ cigars! What a crock."

"Would almost be nice if we had another President...a good President...there's a lot of those soldier-boys lookin' for some direction out there," said David.

"And some income, too," Luke Thorn added. Luke was mostly used as a spy in the military, and was well-respected and known despite his mid-rank. He was definitely up for a promotion or two had the system survived.

Triniman suddenly looked as if he had been struck by lightning. He tried to mop the dampness from the back of his head, then his beard as he thought. "I know someone who may be able to snap us into shape..."

"Who?" Jed asked for the three of them.

"He's a good kid...I had my life saved by him...in fact, we all did. I learned from all his buddies all the things he's done for this planet. He'll be perfect."

Jed gave a snicker as he lightly laughed. "Pretty impressive. So who is he?"

"Yeah, Bill! Out with it! We'll see him today about it!" David added impatiently.

"He's a boy by the name of Cloud Strife."

Jed lost his snicker in an instant. So did the rest of the young men. Jed's dark eyes turned toward David's bright sky blue eyes and locked there in shocked silence. Luke joined his dark blue eys in the other two's disbelief. There wasn't a sound any of them made until each bursted into loud guffaws, bending over, their shoulders racking with laughter.

"And why is that funny?" asked Triniman.

"Well, you see Bill," as Jed straightened, recovering from the laughter, "there are some people...some guys that...well-"

"-need to stay as an escort guard for a while until they figure out how to turn a Mako laser on!" David finished for him.

"He was that short guy with the...the what?" Luke couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Jed made a motion like pulling out huge locks of hair from his head. "That blonde HAIR, man! How could you forget the HAIR?"

"Ahh." said Luke as his mouth turned up into a snicker.

"Escort guard?" Triniman was sure that Cloud had been in one of the highest ranks in the military. He couldn't believe the boy had only been a lowly escort guard.

The three of them helped themselves to another round of laughter as Jed explained.. "That skinny little kid thought he was made for SOLDIER from the start. He really flipped out when he couldn't even pass a couple preliminary training tests! Ha, ha!"

"We haven't seen him for what? Three or four years?" Luke wondered.

"Gentlemen, I'm sure that was all in the past...you should get reacquainted with him. Why don't we all go over to his fiancee's establishment in sector 9 and talk?" Triniman found himself chuckling. "Just to humor me a little?"

The word fiancee drew out some oooh's and aaah's from the trio. So Cloud Strife has a fiancee? Get real!

"Alright, man. You got a deal. We'll humor ya." Jed laughed.

"I'll get a few more guys together to discuss this, then we can all be on our way," said Triniman.

"Sure man. We'll meet you. Ha ha."


	38. Chapter 38

XXXVIII.

"#$%^, Cloud, what the #$%'s wrong with this thing?"

"We've sure worked on it long enough...*uuuuurrrgh!*...there...one... ..."

Cid hopped on Cloud's hog and put the key in the ignition again. "Y'know, kid...we've been working on this for days now...This is the last time I'm #$%^$* with this thing! If this doesn't start right now, it's all you!" They had worked on it ever since they got back to the Cloud Nine. Lane really pulled the thing apart, but Cloud was hesitant to part with it until he knew putting it back together wouldn't help it's case.

Cloud's eyebrows drew together above his glowing blue eyes as he made a final adjustment, sitting on the warm cement sidewalk. He wiped his brow with greasy, oily hands. Some grease was unconsiously wiped onto his forehead. "At this point, I'm ready to dump it, too. Now try it."

Cid turned the key. Nothing happened.

"$%^*." Cid cursed.

Cloud let out an exasperated moan. He leaned all the way back until he lay on the sidewalk next to the deceased bike and covered his face with his hands. "That's _it_! I'm dumping it today." He threw his hands down to either side. "I'll have to see about getting a new one. Man, I don't wanna do that."

He was suddenly shadowed by a figure over him, blocking out the sunlight filtered through the diminishing clouds. "Hi hon. No luck?"

He got up from the sidewalk and put an arm around Tifa's waist. "Nope. Dead as a doornail."

"Too bad." she said as she rubbed his strong back with her hand. They gazed at the sorry piece of machinery together.

"We'll have to get the buggy from Barret and haul it over to the scrap heap."

"Well, I'm goin' the $%^%* in an' havin' something hard. Then I'm takin' a nice long nap, then a little vacation and head back ta Rocket-That-Ain't-There-No-More Town ta see how Shera's doin'. #$%, I miss that woman..."

As soon as Cid was finished, none other than Bill Triniman was heard yelling something as he excitedly ran toward the group. A pack of men of various ages seemed to walk after him, following his lead.

"There he is, my good young men! Our new President!"

Cloud, Tifa, and Cid exchanged puzzled glances. They all turned over their shoulder in the direction Triniman was sprinting as they figured someone important stood beyond them. But no one else was on the street at this time of day.

Triniman stopped dead in front of Cloud, his mouth a wide smile. Cloud took his arm out from around Tifa and nervously wiped his hands with a rag he picked up laying next to the bike. Tifa put her hands on his bicep as he fooled with the rag.

"Hello, again, Cloud! We meet again! Tifa! And Mr. Highwind!"

"Hi, Bill," Tifa greeted him with a smile.

"Hey, Doc...just don't call me #$%^ Mister. I'm old enough without that!"

"Hey, Bill. What...what brings you here?" Cloud hesitantly asked. He didn't like the first few words he heard as Bill made his way up to meet them.

"I and my colleagues-"...he glanced over his shoulder...and saw they didn't catch up yet, not as excited about meeting Cloud as Bill was..."-oh, they'll be here soon...We need to ask a huge favor of you, which, I think, is a perfect request for such an able young man as you."

Cloud flicked his eyes at the scientist for an instant. "W..What's that?"

The pack of young men finally caught up to where Bill stood. Cloud flicked his eyes quickly at them, then locked a stare on them as he recognized some of the faces that were part of his acquaintences in the Shinra military. His gut tightened as he was well aware of the fact that most of the men who stood before him outranked him.

On the other side of Triniman, the young men, inluding David, Jed, and Luke, all noticed something different about him. There was no doubt that this was the Cloud Strife they knew from three or four years ago, as that perfectly spikey mass of golden-blonde hair itself was the only thing needed to recognize him as such, but each saw a different aspect of him that made them wonder what happened to him. Some saw his increased build, something he definitely didn't have as much of three years ago. Even though all the men except Bill Triniman stood a couple inches above Cloud's height, he looked like he could take them all down one by one. Some noticed his glowing eyes, and that in itself made SOLDIER come to their minds, and shudder. Others noticed the dark scars around his neck and wrists, revealed by the white tank he wore, and realized that their own bumps and bruises were nothing compared to what must have happened to him recently. All noticed that whatever caused the scars was reflected in his eyes.

Luke leaned toward Jed and whispered. "Is that Tifa Lockhart?"

"Yeah!" Jed whispered back. "She was Zangan's top student...I heard about her... that chick is lethal..."

"Look at her hand! She's got quite a rock on there!"

"Her and Cloud Strife!..."

"Well, they _did_ supposedly grow up together..."

"But _her and Cloud Strife?_"

Triniman's face glowed as he spoke. "Well, you know that there's massive damage from when he military and political power, Shnira, was taken down. You also know that we at the plate cleanup site are begging for help when there is none to give. We need someone that can direct us toward future progress and solidify the set systems before chaos tears even more innocent lives apart. That's already been done by Shinra. We need someone's help desperately to pull people together as a team. Gongaga, Midgar, Corel...all of them need an individual that cares..."

"And so...you're...you're saying?"

"We would like to offer, invite, ask...whatever you may call it...we're asking you to be the next president of the Shinra Corporation...so we can...-"

Cid's and Tifa's mouth dropped, respectively. The two of them glowed along with Triniman at the thought...Cloud Strife as the new President? That would mean the terror of the Shinra dynasty could be reversed...there could be so many possibilities...

Cloud gave each man in the pack a hard glance, rolling it over in his mind.

Tifa practically gave a little jump as she snapped her head toward Cloud to see him accept.

"I've never been..." Cloud breathlessly began as he shook his head in shock. "I've never been so insulted in my entire life."

There were dumbfounded, blank stares from all sides surrounding Cloud. His face twisted into sheer fury. He came down hard on all of them. "You mean to tell me you haven't learned the first two times about investing a leader with that much power! We've just gotten over all this tyranny, and so soon after you want to lick someone else's boots! You need someone to do the thinking for you that badly? You learned nothing from Sephiroth? Or was it your idea all along to have 'the Sephiroth clone' to lead you into some whacked out new Promised Land? Or is this still part of some twisted experiment!"

Cloud's eyes narrowed. He pointed a finger at the group of men. "No...I was practically on my deathbed when I swore that no one would use me as an experiment for the third time...You won't get the satisfaction! I'll let you chose another guinea pig to pick and prod and observe until there's nothing left of him!"

"But Cloud! _Cloud!_" Tifa softly said to him as he took light hold of her hand and started toward the Cloud Nine.

"C'mon, Tifa...let's let what's left of the Shinra to their twisted delusions of grandeur. Hopefully we won't be anywhere near here when they find their next lame victim..."

"_Cloud!_"

Cloud was pulling Tifa toward the bar along with him, and he wasn't letting go of her hand. With his back turned, Tifa rolled her eyes toward the heavens so the men could see and held her first finger up with her free hand for them to wait there for a second.

"Jeez...what's eatin' him?" asked Jed.

"That boy has been through hell and back. On second thought, it's natural he wouldn't want anything to do with the system anymore."

"What happened to him?"

"I can vouch for that!" Cid interrupted. "This is as much $%^* as I know... ain't much, but it'll shed a little light on the matter..."


	39. Chapter 39

XXXIX.

Cloud practically burst through the door and stomped over to the sink behind the empty bar in the main room, the whole establishment still getting some finishing touches done before it opened to the public. He let go of Tifa's hand only to turn the water on in the sink and start scrubbing his greased hands. His eyes burned with fury.

"Cloud, what was _that_?" Tifa asked."

"I said all I needed to say out there. Nothing else to say."

"Cloud...I think...I think you should do it."

He paused scrubbing his hands for a second in thought, then resumed to angrily get that last bit of grease out from under his nails. "No. I will not. I don't want anything to do with Shinra anymore...I told everyone that how many times? I don't know what's worse, being a Sephiroth clone or a Shinra clone!"

"But Cloud...Think of all you can do for all those hurting people out there..."

Cloud's initial anger cooled a bit now that he was alone with Tifa, but the words he spoke were still packed with hate. "What can a failed experiment that couldn't even pass the first couple of training tests in the Shinra military possibly do running the whole thing?"

"Cloud, remember what Barret said?" She started to do an impression of Barret that would almost be funny if Cloud wasn't so riled. She lowered her eyebrows down all the way, stuck her bottom lip out and crossed her arms as she lowered her voice unnaturally. "...'ain't what I'm talkin' bout' ! Ain't how many times you knocked down, it's how often you git up!'..."

"Well...there's nothing a tyrant can do for anyone. And I know nothing about politics. I'm too young." He splashed his face, turned off the water, and grabbed a clean towel from behind the bar.

"Those are _not_ excuses! Cloud Strife, what Bill said is right! You've forever been mentioning how you'd love to rebuild Gongaga...you'd love to rebuild Midgar...you'd love to modify the plate so the slums saw daylight...and for the other two excuses, do you think Shinra or his son really cared about politics? And Rufus wasn't that much older than you are now when he came into power!"

His girl was right. On all counts. As he was drying his face and hands he realized that. He laid the damp towel on the bar and leaned on it with a hand on his hip. He kept his eyes on the towel as if he was talking to it. He nervously bit his lip in thought. "Fine." he whispered. "As long...as long as you're there with me." He shyly flicked his eyes toward Tifa for a moment. Now what was everyone getting him into?

She stepped closer to him to put her hands on his chest. "I'll be there every step of the way. Someone has to make sure you behave!"

That made him snicker. Just a bit.

He encircled her with his arms an held her closer. "You know...I was just an escort guard in the military?..."

"Yes."

He sighed as he reminisced. "You wouldn't believe the thrill that went through me the first time I saw my reflection...and...saw my eyes..."

"Oh?"

He sighed again with a hum and his chin on her shoulder. "Mmmmmmmm. Yeah. After they infused some of the boys with Mako...we were knocked out for a long time from it...Imagine. Me, a lowly escort guard, looking into the mirror of the men's room one night after I awakened ...and saw SOLDIER eyes staring back at me...I could tell everyone I was in SOLDIER and they'd believe it. It made it almost worth it. Almost."

She gave a soft laugh. "All you needed was a chance, Cloud. That's all." Suddenly her body seemed to stiffen in his arms. "While we're into true confessions, Cloud...at the crater..I didn't tell you..."

"I know about it. All of it."

She looked truly puzzled. "About Aeris?"

"Yeah. Vincent told me. He thought you had told me already."

"She said you're a...Did you ever?..."

"I never touched her."

Tifa shifted her weight like that wasn't enough.

Cloud took hold of her hands and held the over his heart. "Tifa, I know I've told a lot of tall tales before...I don't need to tell any more...this isn't one of them. I never touched her."

She had to believe it. He was gazing right into her eyes this time.

"The Shinra tower...she mentioned a date...did you ever go on one?"

"Yes..."

"Well?"

He rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "She shoved me out the door! It was a disaster. We were made to play a part in this really cheesy little theatre number because we were the 200th couple or something. She smacked me! I remember how it hurt... God, that was nasty..." He rubbed his cheek as he remembered it.

Tifa almost giggled. "She _smacked_ you?"

"Yeah." He twisted his mouth and put a hand on his hip. "I kinda got cocky with her and screwed up the lines I was supposed to say. She got all huffy and smacked me upside my head. Almost knocked me out!"

"Ha! That sounds like the Cloud Strife I know!"

"YOUR Cloud Strife, y'know..."

"Five more months...two more weeks, and fifteen hours left!" she hinted.

"Well, what about right now?"

"Right now...you're all mine, too. Rrar." They kissed each other for a few minutes. _Aeris was right...he _is_ a great kisser_, she thought.

They stopped to catch their breaths.

"Let's go out to the welcoming party for you to accept your new position, Prez." Tifa suggested.

"Yeah."


	40. Chapter 40Epilogue

Epilogue.

"THINK FAST, POPS!"

Whoosh! _Thock!_

Godo was sure his heart was stopped for good as Yuffie's shuriken flew by like lightning and stuck itself an inch away from his nose into the door. Right in the center of the bullseye scrawled on it by his daughter when she was little. He should have expected it coming in the door-but then again...this was Yuffie.

Yuffie tumbled out of her roll to stand straight up. She dusted herself off. "Hah! No sweat," she proudly said. She put a small hand on her hip and cocked her head with an evil, wicked grin. "I _always_ hit my target, don't I, Dad?"

"Um...yes, dear."

The ninja girl went over to a soft black beanbag in her room and splatted her petite body unceremoniously down onto it. The air escaped out of the seams of the beanbag as she sat like a queen upon it. She put her arms back behind her head and lazily crossed her legs at the knees, bouncing her right leg up and down.

"Ah, Dad, so how does it feel to have some of the most powerful materia on the planet in the same place where you live? Inches away, I tell you!"

"Wutai has waited long enough for it...it's about time we had something to begin to revive this town from a simple tourist attraction to a national power..."

"A LAME tourist attraction...I just might decide to be proud of Wutai from now on!"

Godo's face glowed at the idea of gaining some serious respect from not only those outside Wutai, but also the very people that lived there everyday. Godo's people had always longed for the good old days when Wutai was a mighty figure on the horizon for the Easterners; and now that they possessed almost every materia known to man at the time, including the unbelieveably potent Master Materia, he was sure this town would rise like someone resurrected by Phoenix.

Yuffie oncrossed her arms and looked in her father's eyes excitedly. "Dad, we haven't played with it for a while!" She hissed as she leaned forward. 'The last time we did _that_ was about two months ago, since Donjin brought it back." She folded her hands together and begged. "Can we play with it again? Can we? Can we?"

Godo burst into a loud laugh. He rose to his feet. "Sure, darling."

His daughter followed suit. "Cool! After all, we waited long enough to get _our_ materia back." She broke into laughter that Godo just had to join in with. He led her out the doorway, walking with her down the hall towards the secret room where their hard-fought prizes lay.

They continued through the hallway, passing out the guest rooms, the main room, and Godo's study, on their way, all covered in lushly patterned carpets and tapestries created by some of the most skilled craftsmen in the town. "Just remember what happened last time we experimented," Godo chuckled. "We wouldn't want to summon Hades for no apparent reason again...he wasn't too pleased with that the last time..."

Yuffie rolled her eyes as she walked. Summon monsters could be such pricks. All prim, proper, protocol. Yawn. Boring. Well, except maybe Choco and Mog. That was the only fun one in the whole gift set. "I thought the Knights of the Round would never come back again after that speech we got from one of them about 'summoning only during a crisis' and 'using your head when using the Ancient's powers'...uh!...Mako Boy never got yelled at like that...damn spikey blonde that he is!"

"Now, now, now, dear...He's the one that was so kind to let us have it..."

Yuffie had to chuckle. "Y'know, Dad?"

"What?"

"I like your style. You're pretty cool for an old guy. Ha, ha, ha!"

Godo, um, took it as a compliment.

They wound their way through the house, stopping in front of a huge, richly created tapestry. Godo pulled it back to reveal a hidden doorway to a rarely used spare room. Always dreaming of acquiring materia, he converted this room to a practical materia showcase in case either he, his daughter, or any of his lackeys got thir lucky paws on some. Glass cases lined the room, in which little pillows in lush velvet for each materia found sat. Little labels, one for each pillow, waited to be filled by Godo, who was still resting on his laurels a little too much to care about cataloging each piece.

Godo and his daughter leaned over the case to inspect the spoils. And were absolutely horrified at what they saw.

The materia wasn't there. Instead, there were strange things in their place... In place of the purple materia, purple peacock feathers sat. Where the yellow materia was, powder that looked a lot like gold dust lay. And where the blue materia was, the pillows looked kind of...well...wet, as little puddles beaded up inside the case and made the black color of the velvet run all over the place. And, instead of all that gorgous command materia, Chocobo feathers seemingly laughed back at Godo and Yuffie. Bright, fluorescent pink ones.

Yuffie snapped her head from looking at the cases to her father's befuddled expression. "What is _this_? Is this some kind of a joke? _Dad?_"

Godo was shocked silent by the discovery. "I...I have no idea...it was all right here..."

"AAAAAAAAGGH!" Yuffie screamed. She was practically pulling her short dark hair out from fury. "BLONDE BOY DID THIS!"

"Dear...relax! We'll...we'll get it back somehow!" Godo made a fruitless effort to keep up with his daughter, who was stomping out he door of the room.

Yuffie jabbed her index finger into the air as she talked towards nothing in particular. "I KNOW IT! THIS MEANS WAR! YOU SPIKEY-HAIRED MAKO JERK, IT'S ABOUT TIME YOU GO DOWN!"

Godo chased his rage-infected daughter around the house, hoping there weren't any shurikens laying within her reach anytime soon.

THE END!

(The end?)

NOTE: Wow, I can't believe you read the whole awful thing. This goes to show you good characterization doesn't happen overnight. And I repeat, this story **is over 10 years old, and it was my first serious attempt at fanfiction**. The follow up story to this, "Souls' Desire", is a little less awful. It was written later, and I was a bit more careful with the characters.

Take it with more than a grain of salt, and I guarantee you, my Real Ghostbusters fic, and to an extent, my Bankotsu (Inuyasha) fics are all better. :P Thankx for reading.


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